The New Uchiha - A Sasusaku
by Janet-Mufasa
Summary: Naruto can't let himself kill Sasuke whom he's tried so hard to bring back. Letting him live and keeping hush only a few people know about his existence. Locked away with a powerful seal on his eyes he only cares for one thing in life. Sakura his lone visitor over the years and his new son but with rivals in love and other strife going on, will they ever get to be a real family?
1. Prologue

**The New Uchiha**

***Disclaimer***

**THIS IS NOT OCxCANON THIS IS SASUSAKU! I went for a week without telling people that, and that's why it doesn't have barely any views X[**

**Please give it a chance, the only OCs in this are kids.**

**i own nothing! Aside from the plot.**

Itwas a silent day in Konoha. Everyone went about their business, most of which consisted of rebuilding the town after all of the war, and destruction had finally come to an end.

Not everyone was as happy as the silent, humble villagers who worked away in the streets, clearing rubble and searching for their belongings. Deep in the underground tunnels and alleyways of the village something quite turbulent and unpleasant was about to happen.

"Sasuke… you know why you're here. And I can't believe it's come to this but…" Naruto stood before the mangled and bound Sasuke, a person who once was known to him as a friend… a person who once considered him, Naruto, to be a friend.

"If you're going to kill me, fine… I don't care. I've had enough of this life. I've said my goodbyes. I just want to die now. It's better that I be rid of you and this stupid world full of idiots." He whispered harshly. His face was stone cold, and his equally stone expression didn't falter as he spoke.

"I probably have to kill you." Naruto spoke. "You know I can't though." He sighed. His eyes looked tired and an air of disappointment with himself hung around him.

"What? You're seriously telling me that you can't kill me? After everything I did to you, and sakura, and the village? What kind of a Hokage do you think you could possibly make if you can't even kill a pathetic grub like me?" he sneered, a slight look of shock and disgusted entering his eyes. He furrowed his brows and groaned loudly at the stupidity that stood before him.

"I just can't kill you. I don't know what it is… I just can't, okay? You're one of the only people in my life that ever meant so much to me and I'm not going to just kill you after trying so hard to bring you back, alright? I'm not doing it! I don't care if that's what everybody wants! They can wonder for the rest of their lives if I did or not, because I'm not telling anyone!" he shouted. Sasuke resumed his stone faced glare and clenched his fist from beneath the ropes.

"I'll have you tied up better, so that your bones heal right, but you're going to be staying down here for the rest of your life so you better get comfortable." He grumbled. He rubbed his forehead and stormed out of the room.

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. Whether he knew it or not, Naruto was actually torturing him more by letting him live.

He laid back his head and tried not to think about anything. That attempt was promptly broken after a few minutes however, when a smaller, weaker, more terrified presence came to his attention.

The shaking, but still approaching female tried to calm her body down… her face was drawn into a worried and unsure expression. Her eyes darted about trying to look at anything but the mangled man before her. Eventually she stepped into the light and her trembles ceased as she fell to the ground and wailed loudly…

"Sasuke!" she held the end note of his name, sobbing it out until she couldn't hold it anymore.

"Why?" she weakly, shakily let the question leave her lips. She forced her head up to look into the eyes of the one she truly loved… but at this point, the reason she loved him was an absolute mystery to her.

"Because. Because I just don't care anymore. Don't blame me… blame the game. It's the game of lies, and deceit that provided me with the tools and the will to do this to myself, and to you. There was a time where I could be saved, but the chances were against me." He shifted a bit and tried to relieve the pain in the arm he was resting on.

"Just face it, sakura… I was doomed from the moment I was born and Uchiha. There's no point in feeling for me. I'm already dead as far as I'm concerned. I even tried to kill you. I did that twice, and somehow you still love me? Maybe you're just as insane as I am." He spoke with a chilling monotone that pierced the young woman's ears, but she ignored it.

"I … don't know why I love you." She whimpered. She, still trembling, reached through the bars to touch him. She grabbed his hand and held it. To her amazement, he held it back.

The silence between them, although short, was intense and they both were shaking now. Sakura's breath was still uneven and she shook hard as she inhaled deeply, awaiting the other's response.

"Sakura… I guess I may as well tell you finally. There was a time where I …" he sighed heavily and contemplated whether or not he should finish his confession. He held her hand tighter and closed his eyes, which were sore from the seal that was placed on them.

"I once loved you too… but now I don't know if I can even feel emotions anymore." He looked away from her and waited.

She didn't respond.

"He looked back at her. Her head rested against the bars and tears fell freely from her eyes. Her face was twisted as ever as he sobbed silently. She shook violently as she heaved another deep breath and then, trying to ease herself, she gripped his hand tighter still and looked at him.

"We could have had a life… why does this happen to people like you? Why do such wonderful people live such horrible lives? I've seen too many people like you die… people who had a chance, even if it was slim to begin with. I hate this life… "She whispered, unable to raise the volume of her voice.

Sasuke felt a twist in his chest, and couldn't help but at least feel sad that this was happening. Maybe he can still feel emotions after all… even if they were dull and meaningless.

"Look, sakura… he isn't going to kill me. As much as I hate that… and as little of a chance of surviving down here as there is… I think you'll be fine. I think we'll be fine. I just need time to humble myself again. This seal on my eyes… I can't believe they came up with something that powerful that it could hold back the sharingan's power without killing me. Let's see how long it lasts. In that time that I have until it wears off, we'll have time to work this out. But don't expect it to be easy. "He said.

It was then that sakura remembered about his eyes. They hadn't been sealed, or contained, even after the war had finished. Tobi and Kabuto had been dealt with, but Sasuke was still at large after that. The only reason the town and the village was still in the current state of destruction was because everyone refused to come home until he was found and killed so that their safety could be promised.

"It's been six years since you tried to destroy Konoha… I'm sure your thoughts about it haven't changed much… but if that seal lasts long enough… I hope that at least you can change enough that this can actually work between us… but you have to promise me… you have to promise that once that seal wears away, you won't try and do that again, okay?" she begged… it was almost begging anyway.

Sasuke avoided eye contact again and scowled.

"Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to try it again? I can't even be bothered with living anymore let alone trying to pull a stunt like that! Think woman!" he pulled his hand away and attempted to roll over.

Sakura was hurt, and a bit shocked by his reaction, but she understood it though.

"Okay… I'm sorry. I'll come back as many times as I can. I love you Sasuke…" she said through the bars. He didn't respond, but he didn't need too. Sakura knew he loved her too…

"Love can't change or fix people. So don't get the wrong idea." He added quickly before she left.

"I'm trying to do this because I want to. But if I get bored with it, then don't expect me to change. If I abandon the efforts, then abandon me. Please." He said.

She sighed and nodded, then after remembering that he couldn't see her, she whispered a quick, short "Yes." and then she left.

It was silent once again…


	2. A year has passed - Sakura the Outcast

**To my reviewers;**

**MrClosedEyes : first and foremost I would love to thank you deeply for your shown interest in not only my story but its progress and quality and potential! It means so much to me that someone straight off the bat has given me such a great and constructive welcome into the naruto fanfic business. I can tell that we will develop a very good writer/reviewer rapport so long as I do everything right!**

**you will find that I have already done ten chapters of this story, and I hope that its to your liking. I didn't upload it at first because I was terrified of the flack that Sasusaku cops from most other fans. I will warn you though that there is a few points that may bring up more question marks as the story does on but I've put them in there for a good reason I assure you.**

**And for my other wonderful reviewer: I lost the email with your name on it, but I'll find it later, I'm so happy that you like it so far, and you might be shocked as to who his love rival is. But worry not, Sakura is a good girlfriend. She can beat the crap out of any perv that comes her way if she has to!**

Chapter One: A year has passed – Sakura the outcast  
It was morning in Konoha, and the people of the village were busy getting up and moving along to work, and to school and so on. It had now been a year since Sasuke had been confined to the underground tunnels and dungeons of the village, and everyone knew he was alive. There was only one reason as to why they knew, and that reason was Sakura.  
"Moring Sakura… off to visit Sasuke today?" a voice called from across the hallway. Sakura was startled, but pleased to see her ex-teacher actually getting up this morning.  
"Yes I am, and you? Off to visit Obito no doubt?" she smiled. He smiled, though it was barely visible, and shrugged.  
"We both have friends to visit, so that we're never alone. I'll see you later." He saluted her and then headed off, putting on his vest and fixing his headband.  
Sakura sighed, and then continued. Kakashi had recently moved in across the hall from her in the apartment that she lived in, and had been some of her only company she'd had since the day she started dating Sasuke.  
She took a deep breath as she descended the staircase and then braced herself as she made her way towards the door.  
He fixed her hair, and looked around. No one seemed to be looking at her yet. She opened the door, and then swiftly left the building, keeping her eyes to the ground.  
Ever since she had begun to openly date the convict, she had been ostracized by her peers, even one who she once was friends with. It was understandable that she was doing something rather risky, and she didn't half blame them for judging her, although it grew tiresome after a while.  
There was a lot to grow tired of on top of that, what with the gossiping, and rumours about her, the assumptions people made, the way people acted around her.  
It was Sasuke that was supposed to be 'dangerous' not her. So then why when she's doing her weekly shopping, do women yank their children out of her way, and scold them for talking to her? Why then did people she once knew, blatantly refuse to speak to her, and practice such foul snobbery around her when she tried to fit in with them again?  
The worst perhaps, was that now for Sakura, almost no women her age cared about her or bothered to befriend her, leaving her at the mercy of loneliness and men who don't understand her. She ignored those thoughts though and moved on, swiftly still. She knew what she was asking for the day she snuck into the dungeons to see him. The one she loved, was a monster at one time, and now she would be labelled to, but she could live. She didn't need people's approval to be happy with the man she wanted to be with.  
She passed by a shop, and despite her overall rushed sort of schedule she stopped and decided to take a break to look at the flowers to get it off her mind. She smiled at her reflection in the window, and decided that it would be better to view them from the inside. A few people inside looked up for a bit and then went back to minding their own business.  
There were small pink flowers in a plastic pot all tied up with a red ribbon, with varying shades of pink throughout each petal due to the light coming through the glass. The stems were barely visible under the pretty light green leaves. And they all sat in the front of the shop, and sakura couldn't help but admire their delicate, simple beauty. She picked it up and decided that her house could use some cheering up.  
She moved up to the counter and set it down to reach into her handbag to get some money out.  
"Sorry, lovey but that one's not for sale." A bored, fair voice spoke up from behind the counter. Sakura paused and her brows furrowed… flowers not for sale in a florist? That made no sense.  
"Are they display only?" she turned to look at the woman and then her heart fell.  
"Oh… Ino… hello." She managed to get out in a small voice. Normally she'd have started a big commotion, demanding to know what the big deal was about her buying a couple of measly flowers, but since the last time she did something like that, she'd been put in her place. It seemed almost insultingly wrong that she had let herself be bullied by the blonde, seeing as she had a lot more power than that, but for the sake of keeping the peace, and with a few months' worth of wear-and-tear she just hadn't the motivation or will to fight her in the petty battle that was taking place.  
"Fine. I'll go somewhere else, but those flowers should go to the best person. So keep them off sale for a while." She suggested quietly and then, a little annoyed, left the store in a mild huff.  
Her irritation slowly began to surface until she knew she was far out of the area. She growled and then it gradually transformed into a frustrated scream. She gripped her handbag tightly and then stormed off to take another road other than the main street. She took to the trees, draping her bag across her torso to keep it in place. Being a ninja really had its perks when it came to "I'm-pissed-off-leave-me-alone".  
Her rage slowly died out after a few helpless branches and twigs fell to the ground, all victim to her crashing feet, and her fists as she sprinted across their network of timber in the sky.  
"Stupid superiority obsessed bitch. You liked him too at one stage so you're just as 'bad' as me." She hissed to herself. Ino had by far been one of the sources of frustration that was the greatest. She had never been this much of an issue before until now, and it was ridiculous, because if Ino had gone to Sasuke and done what she had done, then sakura would honestly by no means treat her like that. Like a piece of crap, because she's jealous, or acting like everyone else to cover it up and talking about her constantly to try and fill the void created by not coming out as the better woman.  
The better woman was the one that could accept defeat if necessary and move on. Even with the hatred that she held for the blonde already, she would at least just keep her comments to herself.  
"It was just a few flowers. How ridiculous." She commented.  
She dropped to the ground and then progressed towards the Hokage's residence. Naruto wasn't the Hokage yet, but he was undergoing training. It was like he was taking crash course leading up to his eventual succession to the top, and he'd been improving recently. Naruto and Hinata were the other people of her company that she had enjoyed over the past year.  
They were supportive of her… of them. They had faith in their cause.  
She knocked on the door and waited before calling out, announcing her arrival.  
"Hey guys! It's just me, Sakura." She waved through the window. No one knew about this half of the residence except for her and other important people.  
Hinata was the first to come to the door. She unlocked it and opened it, smiling as usual. She was very happy nowadays and was often caught smiling and daydreaming about her new boyfriend, namely Naruto.  
"Welcome back Sakura! I see you did something different with your hair today! It looks very… um…" she giggled and covered her mouth. Sakura's eyes widened and she looked at her reflection again…  
"Oh! And after all that time I spent fixing it this morning!" she complained. Hinata giggled and again and invited her inside. The house smelled like ramen, which was typical on a Sunday afternoon at this place. Hinata had managed to get him to break the habit of eating ramen every single day of the week, except for on weekends, which was tough.  
"It's like trying to give up smoking... not that I'd ever do something like smoking, that stuff kills - believe it!" Naruto had put it.  
The said ninja was currently running around the kitchen cutting up vegetables and cracking eggs all at the same time. He didn't seem to be responsive to their presence although he did acknowledge it by grabbing out a third bowl for Sakura.  
"Hi, Naruto!" sakura said. She and Hinata sat down and began to talk.  
"So how has Sasuke been since I last came to visit?" she started, getting the important stuff out of the way first.  
"Oh he's just been his usual self." Hinata stated, twiddling her fingers a bit. Not because of nerves, but because she didn't really like the topic of Sasuke. She was supportive of them, sure, but she didn't exactly like him.  
"He's gotten a little less hostile with the guards. Today he didn't even spit at them, which was an improvement. He didn't like not getting to see you or anyone else the last time he attacked them." She remembered trying to bring a positive light to the topic.  
Sakura smiled and pulled herself close to the table, ecstatic that he had been improving. That was a sign that their attempts weren't in vain.  
"That's wonderful! I knew he was trying, and I think he was telling me about that actually. That he was going to stop attacking them… he really doesn't like the guys you have working for you…" she commented. She looked over at Naruto again who was busy stirring the noodles in a pot.  
"Wow, ever since you made him stop eating it all the time, it's like a drug when he does get to isn't it?" she laughed. Hinata laughed as well and nodded.  
"Okay, food's up ladies!" he spoke finally, bringing over the bowls to the pot.  
"he's so responsible now. Maybe you should restrict MORE things he gets to do!" sakura teased. Naruto stuck his tongue out and handed her a bowl.  
"Speaking of restrictions, I agree with Sasuke. Those guards undermine everything I tell them to do… and not to do. Maybe we could make it easier by hiring new people?" he offered.  
"Oh, it'll be fine Naruto. He needs to suck it up and deal with it. He won't learn otherwise. Besides, finding a new team of qualified people would be hell. You couldn't do it the first time, and Tsunade had to do it all." Sakura said as she took her bowl and Hinata's to the table.  
"So after lunch I can go right down and see him right?" she asked. They nodded and began to eat.  
It wasn't that good seeing as it was made in a rush (and by Naruto) but it was good enough. They shared a bit of idle chatter until the end of the meal and then gave sakura the keys to the particular cell that Sasuke was being held in.  
Now Sasuke, due to the enormous seal on his eyes, was unable to use the sharingan at all, but it didn't kill him which was the whole point of the seal. For three years Sasuke was on the run and at large, and it just so happened to be enough time for them to research and develop a seal to use on the Uchiha that didn't include killing him. If they had tried to contain his abilities any other way it would have killed him, of course.  
His physical strength due to minor starvation and unhealthy thoughts had faltered and cause him to be physically weak, leaving him to rely purely on his eyes. He was finally captured after a gruelling battle that killed over three hundred people, some of which he once knew, and the seal was placed on his eyes that would then allow for him to be carried to the village again where his execution was meant to be made public.  
Naruto of course didn't approve of that, and it was changed to a private event.  
"So why didn't you kill him? He's done so much… I hate to be the one to say he deserves to die, but technically he does." Sakura had said to him once.  
"He's like my brother. I just can't do it. So long as he can't harm anyone, I'll be selfish for once and just let him live. I want to see where you can take this with him. If it's good enough and he lets us put the seal on him again when it wears off then I might even consider letting him out of there… but that's way into the future. For now I'm keeping him locked up. You can visit whenever you like. I know how much you love him." He explained. It was one of the first most mature things he had ever said/done during his first year in training as Hokage.  
Down a few flights of stairs, and through the first tunnel, turning at the first left doorway at the end, sakura entered the cell room and felt a smile forming on her lips again.  
"It's been too long… sakura." his voice called to her. "You know… I really do appreciate you coming to visit me sometimes…"  
Sakura closed the door behind her.  
***


	3. Nothing to do- Personal versions of Hell

**This is an Obito - Tobi aware fan fiction. Please note that I do not intend to offend anyone with my theories or any other details such as supporting pairings and suggested attractions.**

**_Strategically_**** out of character Kakashi. There isn't much of a difference aside from what I needed to create. It turns out to be necessary in the heat of the story so please be mindful of that.**

**i own nothing but the plot!**

Chapter Two: Nothing to do – Everyone has their own source of hell.

The clock was ticking in the cell where he lay. He felt that the only reason the clock was there was to annoy him for the rest of his life. He glared at the clock wishing that he could find a way to break it.

Alas, he was bound at the wrists and knees and strapped to a chair. Things like this, such as the clock, would be there to torture him and annoy him until he either went deaf, or finally convinced somebody to remove it from the cell.

The guards rarely spared him of this seemingly simple but excruciating torture. With every tick of its hands, it counted every second that passed by until he died. If not until he died, then until he was visited once more by the only one he really loved.

"Sakura…" he murmured, bringing a bit of his suffering to an end. He closed his eyes and imagined her, sitting by him shielding his ears from the offensive noise, clouding it out with her sweet voice, and the luscious sighs and whispers escaping her lips as they spent their time together occasionally.

He smirked and laughed to himself. It was as if he was doing something wrong, and enjoying it thoroughly… this romance of theirs. He felt as if he was taking part in some sort of forbidden interaction with her that they both equally agreed constituted the highlight of his life down in these depressing cells and corridors of stone.

His eyes snapped open as his thoughts and reminiscing was cut short by a light tapping at the door of his cell. He furrowed his eyebrows in light irritation.

"I can't answer it, if that's what you were expecting me to do!" he groaned, wondering who could possibly be that dumb to knock on his door like that.

Naruto opened the door and smirked,  
"I know you can't open the door, and that's probably a good thing… believe it. I knocked because I figured I'd give you a little more respect than the guards." He explained.

"You're an idiot." He muttered. Naruto ignored him and then began to reach for the clock.

"This thing's been bothering you right?" he inquired.

"Uh… yeah..." Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked away. As nice as it was that he would now no longer be tormented by the clock, he still felt stupid that Naruto had begun to treat him this well.

"What happened to you Naruto? You used to be such a hard headed idiot. Now you're just pathetic. Am I really that depressing to you that you can't even insult me once in a while?" he asked out of curiosity.

Naruto paused and looked back at the convict, avoiding eye contact, and shrugged.

"I dunno… I just don't feel right treating you like crap. I'm just the same idiotic guy you used to know, but it's just when it comes to you that I'm like this." He stated feeling that it wasn't quite a good enough explanation. He wasn't going to bother going into all the sappy details about his emotions for the convict so a shorter excuse was called for, he supposed.

"Well, that doesn't say much, but whatever." Sasuke rolled his eyes again and chose to remain silent from there.

Naruto replaced the clock with a more silent one that he had brought along with him and then turned around to face Sasuke.

"You're just as cheery as ever, you know. It's good to see you returning to normal you jerk." He smiled widely and laughed.

Sasuke looked up at him for a second and then away again.

"Back to normal huh?" he thought. "That sounds like what we've been aiming for." He smiled lightly.

After Naruto left, Sasuke resumed his silent reminiscing. He eyed the new clock and furrowed his brows again.

"This one makes noise too… but at least it's quieter." He sighed and then hung his head. He was still waiting for her.

The village of Konoha, where a crater once stood courtesy of Nagato from years ago, had been rebuilt very well, with an 'upstairs' and a 'downstairs' sort of network. Two flights of steps connected the top and bottom levels of the village at both ends, and the residential and industrial parts of the village were separated between the two.

All of the shops and places of work were located above, surrounding the lower, residential level in a ring formation. All of the surviving land surrounding the ring was rebuilt to its former design, including some residential areas, and anything else that had previously been there.

The mountains and the forests had been left alone and certain training grounds remained. To Kakashi Hatake's delight, a certain memorial had also remained untouched.

Far from the centre of the town he, as many mornings before him, was out visiting with a friend.

"Good morning Obito." He whispered. He knelt down and rested a hand on the stone before him and a light smile formed under his mask.

"I don't know why it had to be you out there with that mask, and that horrible intent, but I refuse to believe that you'd ever travel down a path like that by your own choice. I'm just too stubborn to be swayed like that." He laughed sadly and then pulled his hand away. He continued to stare at the name engraved on that stone. He knew that Obito was the one who had done it, and he knew why, but it was just too much for him. It pained him to think that all these years he had been alive and suffering from the truth about his family and the death of Rin. Why had it happened? Why did he have to survive? Why did he have to see that?

"As bad as it sounds…" he began to himself… "It would have been better if you had died. Then you would have been oblivious and innocent forever." He drew a deep breath and composed himself. An intruder of his special moment was lurking among the horizon.

Suspecting it was Gai, or something like that, he groaned in frustration and buried his head in his hand.

The figure drew nearer however and he felt that this presence wasn't as offensive as he thought.

Immediately all thoughts of bitterness left his mind for the moment, and the thoughts of Obito vanished along with them.

He stood up and brushed off his knees nervously and then began to approach the figure before him.

"Sakura, you've come to visit me this early?" he called.

She smiled, embarrassed, and looked down.

"Yeah, I'm not allowed to visit Sasuke for more than two days a week. It sucks… but they've changed the rules. They think his seal I weakening and that's all I've been told." She explained.

As Kakashi was one of her only sources off company… who was usually readily available… it made sense that she would come to him today.

"Oh, they think it's weakening? Is there some sort of investigation of that occurring?" he asked, truly interested.

"Yeah, apparently... That and, Naruto is going to be reprimanding a few of the staff for aggravating him on purpose. He thinks that it's a possibility that their actions have triggered a weakness in the seal, but it's nothing to worry about. That thing still has an assumed ten years to go. Assumed… anyway…" she shrugged.

"Hey sakura, I never got to catch up with you regarding that medical emergency back in Suna. What was that all about?" he asked her, trying to take the subject off Sasuke. He didn't necessarily hate the Uchiha, but he knew that he didn't like that she was still so sickly infatuated with him.

"Oh that? That was a real honour actually. Temari was filling in for Gaara while he and Kankuro were away with the kages at a meeting, but her waters broke and I had to be there for her while I was on duty. I was the only medic they could find at the time, so it was a bit panicked." She explained… her face lighting up as she recalled the event.

"Oh, she had it finally? I don't remember getting told about that… does the father know yet?" he asked. They had begun to walk back to the centre of town as they spoke.

During the days of the week that she wasn't visiting Sasuke, sakura had been hired as a nurse at the hospital located at the north east of the village. Although her stigma was strong, her skills and reliability in the hospital ward were held in high regard, thus she was trusted in other villages such as Suna.

"What did she name it?" he asked her.

"Akani was her name. It was a girl, and it looked like Gaara with blonde hair." She smiled.

"Well let's at least hope that she grows up to be a bit cheerier than her, right?" he joked.

"Yeah true" She replied.

There was a silence between the two of them, which neither of them could seem to find the right way to break.

"Would you ever have kids Sakura?" he asked her finally.

She looked at him a bit offended and stepped back.

"What kind of a question is that? My boyfriend is bound to a chair, it's not like we can…. Um…" she blushed and then folded her arms trying not to think about that.

"If I could I would. But I'd appreciate if you didn't ask things like that." She grumbled, trying hard not to punch him in the face for calling her out like that.

It wasn't like she was guilty of anything though.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I went too far." He sighed, feeling like crap now. He adjusted his head band and then looked away.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure it's a good thing I haven't got anyone like that." He sighed.

"I'd make a terrible father." He laughed, but on the inside of course he was beating himself up about it.

She frowned and loosened her stance, realising that she'd done it again. On occasions they would have a conversation like this, and it would end in her upsetting him somehow. That made no sense to her however seeing as until recently it had been the other way around, and plus, it took for HER to be offended before he could be.

"Oh, sorry… I don't know where you came up with that from, but no I think you'd do fine if you tried." She comforted him half-heartedly.

He looked back and laughed a little.

"No it's fine, I'm just being emotional. I think I need a break or something. Ever since 'you-know-what' happened I haven't quite been the same." He admitted. She nodded and rested a hand on his shoulder… a shoulder she could now reach.

"Huh… remember when I was younger and I was about as tall as you waist? How weird is it that now I'm almost up to your neck!" she smiled, taking the conversation in a new direction.

His heart sped up at the touch of her hand and then he stuttered a bit when she stood up against him to better measure their heights. He tried to compose himself, and laughed a bit.

"Y-yeah, you used to be a little shorty didn't you? Well… um… you know, once you grow older you get taller… naturally." He stammered out, trying to ignore her breasts pressed against his torso.

There was no use in denying it. Over the past few years, with her spending so much more time with him, he had begun to develop a rather sad attraction to her, and she wasn't helping by never shutting up about marriage, and kids, and other things that he wished he could do with her, but knew that he just couldn't. What made it even more unbearable was her non-stop chatter about Sasuke, and how great he was, and how much she loved him, and so on and so on.

But just like any responsible man, for once, he kept it to himself and tried to be humble. The fact that she was talking to him at all should be sufficient.

She pulled away and looked up at him curiously. Had she done something wrong?

"You okay there, Kakashi?" he poked him. She had the tendency to regress back to her childhood when she was around him, during the best of times.

Her playful nature came back to her as if she hadn't been put through the stress and pain of years passed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, you just remind me of a pink haired monkey sometimes." He commented, jokingly. She instantly took offence to the remark and he earned himself a large punch in the guts. He didn't care though. He loved firing her up every now and again.

"So what were you planning on doing today?" he asked her after he regained his balance and stood up.

"What? Oh yeah, that's why I came to get you! I haven't got anything to do tonight, and all the other girls are having some night out thing, and of course I wasn't invited." She looked at him hoping that he would possibly know something that they could do to drown out her misery, although she had something in mind already.

"Oh, so what… You want me to somehow entertain you?" he raised his visible eyebrow and scratched the back of his head.

"No, I was hoping you'd help me crash their dumb party. It's Ino's party, and I know you don't like her much either!" she sang the word 'either' teasingly, hoping that his recently developed hatred for the blonde was strong enough that he'd help her out.

"Wait what? You want me to help you get revenge on them for being cliquey? Sorry, but as much as I'd like to, I have a good reputation to keep." He apologised. Her face fell, but she knew she was probably asking a bit much.

"Well, it was a long shot, but thanks anyway. I guess I'll just leave them alone. They don't deserve that much attention." She smirked on the second half of her comment.

Kakashi felt a little bad however.

"You don't get a lot of entertainment in your life. You're a bit like me. How about you come visit me sometime? I've never got anything to do at home. We could... I dunno. Sit and bitch about the people we hate or something girls normally do…" he offered, but he felt wrong, like he was grasping at straws.

"Yeah, no, it's okay. Thanks anyway." She waved and then leapt up, taking to the trees to avoid the crowd on her way home.

Kakashi sighed and hit his forehead with his palm and cursed himself for being as boring and stupid as he was.

"She's going to end up hating me I can just see it." He muttered.

Sakura cursed herself for putting so much pressure on the usually antisocial ninja.

"Why do I bother him so much? I should be happy with the company that he gives me already." She couldn't wait to go and see Sasuke again. She was really becoming desperately depressed.


	4. Complications - Please don't be upset

**Okay just a few small things in this chapter... Rock lee doesn't ALWAYS have to wear his training gear in my story. The war was training enough for him, by god that suit must need cleaning by now.**

**Also my first OC appears here. XD**

**I own nothing!**

Chapter Three: Complications – "Please don't be upset..."

Weeks passed, and Sasuke was being held in higher security than de had previously ever been. As a consequence, a lot of strain had been put on them lately. 'Them' being Sasuke and sakura as a couple that is.

Life in the village as a person was hard enough for her and without being able to see him as often, it was becoming even harder.

She sat today, in a small café, watching people pass her by, forgetting about the food in front of her. It tasted funny anyway, so there was no point in eating it. She fumbled around with the fork in her hand, pushing it into the food and moving it around the plate. She was hungry but she couldn't eat.

A woman in the distance caught her eye, becoming closer and closer. She was holding hands with the man beside her, their son trailing along laughing and chattering on about something interesting to him. The woman and the man stopped for a moment to let him catch up to them.

In a burst of excitement the boy ran full force up to his dad, who caught him in his arms, kneeling down to catch him and then lift him up. The couple continued walking, and the boy continued chattering away.

Sakura sighed and tried not to think. She had been thinking all week, and the week before about what Kakashi had asked her.

It was true, that at some pint she wanted to try and have a child with Sasuke, or at least somebody. And there was no point in denying that they HAD on occasions proved that they could do it, even given his circumstances, what with being behind bars and tied to a chair half the time.

She shook those unclean thoughts from her instantly. What they had done on occasions was despicable, but it wasn't like it was very easy to resist their urges, after having not been together for so long lately, they had been taking part in those kinds of act a lot more often, and she would even do it again, but right now she just wanted to pretend she'd never had that thought - the thought of children.

"What kind of life would a kid have if his father was a convict behind bars his whole life?" she sighed.

"It's not like my social status has anything to offer a kid either. They'd be picked on as bad as Naruto was. But at the same time…" she paused and tilted her head, "I wonder I it would make him happy. To know that his family name has a new chance to redeem itself, the way he was meant to. Maybe if we try harder with the kid he'd find more things to love about life." She contemplated.

"I'd have to be pregnant first though. Who knows… next time I visit we might even try." She laughed. Sasuke would never consent to her having kids with him. Or so she thought at least.

The couple, from before, walked into the café as if to torment her while she sat there daydreaming and knowing it could never be true. Her eyes widened and she sat up.

"G-Gai, how long have you had a wife and kids?" she exclaimed.

He turned around, with a confused look on his face.

"Oh… Lee… sorry, from behind you looked like- WAIT!" she stood up and eyed the woman and the kid.

"Um, sakura, I am afraid you are mistaken… this is my mother and little brother." He laughed nervously. She felt horrible, but smiled and laughed.

"How could I just go and assume something like that? My god I'm an idiot!" she scolded herself in her head.

"Well, from just watching you I'd say you'd probably make a good dad if you were one." She sighed and then stepped away from them a bit, sill feeling horrible for assuming.

"Oh you really think so? Well, thank you … I guess!" he blushed heavily and then looked away. He still liked her, but not as intimately as he used to. A lot of pressure from his peers caused him to talk to her less, but he knew on the inside that she was good.

Sakura waited until they turned around and then bolted out into the street. She was nearly in tears she was that embarrassed, and she wiped her eyes and breathed deeply to try and prevent it. All of this stress and thinking was putting her in a bad mind frame. She had to stop thinking about it… that and she had to stop mistaking Lee for Gai.

"Damnit, I went and called Lee, Gai, again! Why can't they just look like different people?" she cried, grabbing at her hair and grunting. She decided to just go home. It was the only place that she could just escape everything.

Once home, she sat in the kitchen before some food she had prepared for herself.

"Huh… that's odd. This tastes weird too. Why is everything so … disgusting?" she complained. It sucked too, because she still hadn't eaten anything, and the food really did smell wonderful but it just wasn't working for her.

She stopped for a minute and pondered that. For a while now things have tasted bad. That and all of this depressed, defeated, unmotivated feeling that was surrounding her suddenly definitely seemed out of place.

"I wonder." She whispered.

She pressed a palm to her abdomen and thought for a while longer.

"Could I be already pregnant?"

Soon before she knew it, it had come time once again that Sakura was permitted to visit Sasuke. She got up early and made her way straight to Naruto's place.

She made extra careful route choices, and didn't take her eyes off the ground. She paid attention to her surroundings but not enough to distract her. It was s early that barely any people were out and about yet, and she took this opportunity to make haste.

She hadn't eaten again this morning, but that was because she had vomited from not eating last night and her stomach wouldn't be able to handle anything.

She passed a few people who stopped speaking when she passed. She ignored them, and just kept walking. Ino and her new friends, just out to cause trouble, were her least concern at the best of times, and today it didn't even aggravate her.

She had to hurry and get this over and done with. She stood before the door of Naruto's house and began to knock, not even remembering that they were most likely asleep still.

A muffled "Coming!" could be heard from the inside and then, a bit of bumping and shuffling, gradually getting closer and closer with each second. Sakura tapped her foot impatiently.

"Jeeze you here early… did you even eat this morning?" He complained. He looked up at her after wiping his face on his sleeve, but then realised the look in her eyes.

"Oh, sorry, I'm just tired." He grumbled. He let her in and gave her the keys as usual.

"Look, the investigation is nearly over. It's going to be a few more weeks and then you can do what you like again." He reassured her before dragging himself off to bed again.

She didn't speak a word. Today was not just a day she got to visit him. Since one of their previous visits, she had begun to notice a few changes in her body and she knew what had happened. If last night wasn't definite evidence of pregnancy then nothing could be.

"It had to be one of 'those' nights… I don't know what he's going to say, but I just hope he isn't mad at me…" She thought.

She touched her stomach gently and sighed. It wasn't that they had been reckless or something. She was an adult now, and it was okay to get pregnant, but it was just the father that worried her.

"I wonder if he'd actually be mad at ME for this… it's both our faults to be honest. And to think just weeks ago I helped someone else give birth. This is crazy." She worried.

She took extra-long to walk down the corridor. Her nerves began to set in and she took a few deep breaths. She hadn't expected it to be this hard to just do something as simple as walk up to his cell.

She felt a shivers running down her body, just like the first night she came to visit him, and it brought back really bad memories about their first few months of being together, and how hard it had been. What if it happened all over again with this kid?

She finally reached the door and then hesitated. She stood before it, knowing full well that this was going to be a hard decision to make.

The shivers didn't stop, and Sasuke would immediately notice the change in her body and behaviour. She was terrified.

"I can sense you. Why have you stopped?" he called from behind the door.

"You're not afraid of me again are you?" he teased.

"N-no, sorry, I was just thinking." She spoke up. She unlocked the door and then entered. The look on her face must have been bad, because he instantly demanded to know what was wrong.

"Oh… well… that's what I came to tell you. I'm here early too… I just want to get this over and done with." She sighed, closing the door behind her.

"Oh? Is it that bad?" he asked, not sounding as concerned as he was before. It appeared that she was more irritated than upset.

She sighed again and then took her usual seat directly in front of him. She didn't open the door of bars separating them, which was something she normally did. He looked at the keys in her hands, then at the bars and then her.

"Not feeling up to it today, huh?" he teased again, trying to shuffle his seat forward. She blushed and looked away, before recomposing herself.

"No it's not that Sasuke, it's just … it's important that I tell you this, and I don't want to get distracted." She lied. She didn't want him to somehow be able to hurt her if he got angry enough.

"If it's about that stupid assumption about my eyes, they're all wrong. I'd have broken to already and you'd have woken up next to me weeks ago if they were unsealed." He joked.

For once he felt like the one who was meant to break the awkwardness.

"Sakura… I'll ask you again, what's wrong?" he lowered his eyebrows and scowled at her.

"Why are you hiding something from me?" he raised his voice a little.

She flinched and he stopped. She looked like she was crying.

"I… I'm sorry Sasuke, but… I just don't know how to say this." She whimpered.

"Oh god…" he muttered.

"I… I think I might…" she sighed once more and then sat up straight.

He had heard this conversation before, mainly in his nightmares, and he couldn't believe that it had come true.

But why did this have to happen? Hadn't he done everything right? Was all of this effort for nothing? He turned away and clenched his teeth, disgusted with himself, and with her.

"Go on?" he growled.

"Okay, let's put it this way, what would you say if I said I wanted to have kids with you?" she spat out finally.

All the worries and nerves were shooting through her like crazy, he didn't reply, and she was freaking out on the inside.

"Oh god, what if he doesn't answer?" she worried.

There was more silence.

She leant forward and took a closer look. His face was still and no longer held the coldness it held just second ago. His eyes grew wide, and he seemed to not be breathing.

Slowly he turned his attention back to the woman before him and he scooted his chair closer and closer to the bars.

She leant forward to hear was he was about to say, assuming that was his intention.

"Maybe I should back away actually… this might get dangerous." She remembered. She backed up a little.

"If you want to have kids with me… you know they'll be out casted and reviled just like you and me right?" he began slowly.

"Y-yes, Sasuke." She replied, glad that he wasn't seemingly angry at her yet.

"And you know that I'm stuck in here forever, and I wouldn't be able to make a good parent at all." He continued.

"Yes… but still… he'd be able to come down here with me… or her." She insisted. It was already too late to say no, so she had to try and convince him in any way that she possibly could.

"I don't think so Sakura. It's a nice idea, but for the better of the village, you and me, it's a good idea that we let my name die with me. No amount of fixing and effort can prevent the possibilities of what it could do. I was just fine, but then Obito appeared… Obito himself was just fine until he went nuts, so just trust me; it's not a good idea." He stated his point.

He never showed much emotion, and that was to be expected, but for a second she could see that he was pained in saying something like that.

It was hurting her too, because although his point was valid, she was already pregnant, so what was she supposed to do, abort it?

"You know…" he began, drawing back for a bit.

"For a minute there I thought you were saying you were leaving me. I'm glad it was something simpler than that!" he flashed a quick smile for the first time in a while and laughed a little.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him bewildered by his statement.

"Are you kidding me? Leave you… me? Of course I wouldn't do something that stupid!"

She reached in the bars and held his face, leaning in for a kiss.

He smiled into the kiss and returned it, as they had many times before.

"Me, having a family doesn't sound too bad… but I know I couldn't be trusted with that." He thought.

"I'll tell him later. Let's make it look like a mistake." Sakura thought. She hoped that this went well.


	5. Confession-We've had enough with secrecy

**Please forgive me. Sasuke goes a little OOC in this but only for a split second before he goes back to normal. Imagine if YOU were the one strapped to a chair for a year or so and isolated a except for the one chick. Yeah you'd be OOC too. XD**

**Any other discrepancies I promise I already know about. They were put in on purpose**.

Chapter four: Confessions – We've had enough with secrecy...

As any woman who's expecting would, sakura eventually had to tell Sasuke about the baby. It was now a few months in and out of nerves she had been less frequently visiting him.

That however, was no longer to be the case, for today was the day that she had promised herself that she was just going to straight up admit to him that they were having kids whether he liked it or not.

Well, she didn't want to come across as arrogant or stubborn, but that was just how she saw it basically.

She combed back her hair into a ponytail, as she did nowadays just in case no one was there to 'hold her hair', and she checked the time before grabbing a bun and then rushing out the door.

Kakashi had been standing awkwardly in the hall, eyeing her door, hoping that he might be able to catch her before she rushed off as always, not letting him get a word in. He was well aware of her situation, and many other people knew as well, but he was especially concerned for her unlike the others.

"Saku-"he was cut off as she waved to him quickly and then bolted out the door. A confused and irritated look graced his face, only barely discernable beneath the navy blue cloth covering it, and he hit his forehead with his palm.

"She's terrible at being pregnant! She can't keep running around like that, it's going to hurt them both…" he commented.

Having something as exciting as a child developing inside you sure served as a great way to ignore the prejudice and ignorance that surrounds you. It was important enough to keep yourself thinking about absolutely everything except for what people thought of you. Well, in Sakura's case this was exactly true.

The breeze felt good on her skin, as she whooshed through the village at a relatively safe speed. She was nervous again, hoping that she could shake off her nerves enough to get her message across in a stable and mature way. She had to be careful with Sasuke, even if his improvement has been miraculous.

"Hmmm… but that's just the thing. It's only been a year, and he's acting like nothing ever happened. It should have taken him longer to get to this point. It's easier to GO insane than to regain your sanity after all…" she mumbled to herself. Given that thought, she remembered what he said about him not being a good candidate for a father and furrowed her eyebrows. She sighed and hurried further, trying to ignore it.

She reached the house she'd visited all too many times, and knocked on the door. Once again, a grumpy half-awake Naruto came to answer it. He made a face at her as if to say "it's way too early you moron!"

"It's important again. I promise I'll stop doing this." She whispered. He held the face but stepped out of the way for her, closing the door clumsily behind her and then waddling off to bed in a pathetic fashion.

She grabbed the keys and then prepared to go down to the dungeons. A sound in the distance distracted her.

It was coming from the other side of the door. It sounded like Sasuke arguing with someone, probably someone on duty. Sakura didn't like the sound of that, so with a sudden rush of heated frustration, she slammed the door open and ran towards the cell.

Sure enough it was ajar, and she kicked through it, staring heatedly at the guard, awaiting him to turn around so she could see who it was.

He turned around and was deathly silent.

"Kakashi?" she stood back shocked that he would really be doing this.

"Why are you harassing him?" she demanded to know.

"Sakura, sakura, honey I was harassing Kakashi this time." Sasuke droned in his usual, almost sarcastic, monotone.

Kakashi nodded and then got up.

"I was just checking up on his eyes again. I tried to tell you this morning but you were distracted."

"You see her in the mornings?" Sasuke blurted suddenly, livid.

"I live next door to her of course I see her in the mornings!" he retorted in a bored fashion.

It was clear that Sasuke was NOT in the mood to be told ANYTHING now. But still, she couldn't hide it anymore. She'd calm him down and then tell him.

Kakashi left the room and closed the door behind him. He walked about a few meters away, but then stopped. He knew what she was about to do and he wasn't having a good feeling about this at all.

In the room, sakura sat down and pulled her chair up close to the bars and she looked up at him, deciding on how she was going to say it finally.

Sasuke looked back at her, looking irritated. It wouldn't be easy telling him this, and that was for sure.

"Maybe I could wait for another day… it would be better if I did, but then I'll have made him wait longer to hear the truth. He doesn't take kindly to deception… he's had so much of that already." She thought.

"So… the hell is wrong with you?" he grumbled. He had taken notice of her change of emotions lately, and it had been bothering him. He didn't need her getting all bitchy and moody all of a sudden, given his current mental state and all. It was a struggle enough with her being too happy all the time.

"Wrong? No, it's not really something that's wrong with me. Although I'll admit that I've been changing a bit lately. I don't know…" she sighed. She really should just get to the point.

Now all of those nerves she tried to ignore and shake away were coming back and she cursed herself for it. She was not having a very good time trying to control them seeing as one minute they're through the roof and then the next she'll be perfectly fine.

"Just spit it out will you? I can tell you've been hiding something from me." He spat. He was getting impatient… well, more impatient. He began clawing at his fingers with each other.

"Oh, come on Sasuke, I'm not trying to hide ANYTHING from you… I just wanted to confirm something first before I decided to tell you… that's all." She sighed and rubbed her face. She was getting really hot despite the rather neutral temperature in the dungeon cell.

"Well then what is it?" he sighed getting less and less motivated to hear it.

On the other side of the door Kakashi was suppressing his chakra as best as he could, and he felt like he was being torn from the inside with anticipation. They were taking way too long.

"Okay well, for a while now, I've begun to be really sick and my mood has gone off the charts lately too… so I waited for it to pass…" she paused and shifted in her seat, wishing that the heat on her body would just leave. If she didn't cool down soon she might even vomit, and that was really not on her list of things to do right now.

She continued:

"But then, when it didn't go away I started thinking it might be something else." She took a deep breath and checked Sasuke for any signs of aggression or signs that he may be catching on. His face remained still.

"Oh god…" Kakashi muttered. He rocked back and forth on his feet nervously. He never really noticed how much he cared about sakura before until now. He cursed himself for not calling her out on the pregnancy earlier.

"Sasuke doesn't want anything to do with a kid… I already know the outcome of this. She's going to be sorry…" he sighed and took a step back to keep up the distance between him and the door.

"It's not like I'd be a better father though… but anything is better than him…" he added, trying to reassure himself. To think he once favoured Sasuke over her AND Naruto. How ridiculous was he.

Sasuke gripped his hands tightly together and ground his teeth. He felt like he had heard this conversation before. Not between himself and sakura, but between other men and women. He'd known of a generic 'confession' type of conversation like this to occur between couples like themselves.

"Please don't say it… please just let it be something else." He thought over and over in his head.

He wasn't ready for this. He was terrified of it. If anything, sakura was the only thing he really cared about anymore, and he didn't need it to be ruined.

"It didn't pass Sasuke." She sighed for yet another time. "Remember the other day… well… quite a while ago, when I asked you about having…"

A sharp offensive noise suddenly screeched and she stopped and looked back up at Sasuke, her heart stopping.

He was dragging his chair as close as he could to the bars and violently thrust his head through them.

"Are you really telling me you're leaving me? Is that what you're saying?" he shouted, a look of confusion crossed with worry plastered on his face suddenly.

it took a while for anything to register between the themed them. Sasuke safely his heart painfully stopping as his breath hitched. He wasn't one for crying but this was ridiculous! Twice now he had been spoken to I such a manner as this.

he thought back to the conversation about having a family... was this all just a test to see wife was worthy? Did she want kids but because he didn't she was ending it?

Finally he made the first move as Sakura was too stunned to even say or think at the moment. He threw his head back and groaned loudly. If his legs were freer than they were he'd be kicking them around, and possibly trying to kick her in the process. He shut his eyes and groaned again, sounding whinier this time.

Sakura's heartbeat returned to a healthy speed after staring at him freaking out couldn't help but burst into laughter out of nervousness for one, and complete disbelief that he really thought she'd do something like that.

"After everything we've been through…" she began, but she was cut off by the still oblivious Sasuke. She had never seen him over react like this before in her entire life.

"No, no, no! You HAVE to be joking! This can't happen to us! Not now! God damn it!" he tried to thrash around under the ropes but failed due to his rapidly declining physical strength.

"You really mean to say after ALL THIS SHIT I put myself through your just going to leave me? WHY DID I BOTHER THEN?" he complained.

Sakura rolled her eyes and spoke up again:

"Sasuke just shut up will you? I'm not breaking up with you! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth!"

Kakashi took a step forward again, wondering if sakura would be alright in there… he wanted to intervene but he didn't want them to know he was listening in.

"Well he's quicker to over react than he used to be. Being locked up and mocked constantly sure does a lot to you in only a year's time." He smirked, almost feeling good that his… 'Rival' of sorts was so unstable. It was even more of a reason that he was not worth her time.

"Uh…" Sasuke pinched together his eyebrows and froze. Chills of disgust and embarrassment shot up and down his veins insultingly and he fell rigid in his seat. His eyes shone with a livid look and his mouth shut tightly into a firm line. He tried to breathe.

"What the hell is wrong with you then." He asked still disgusted with himself for over reacting. He felt like an idiot, and he just wanted to die. He NEVER lashed out over assumptions… He NEVER did that. Did he ACTUALLY love sakura that badly or something?

"No that's ridiculous. The fact that I love her at all is a miracle. I'd only be pissed off that I tried to 'fix myself' for her for so long, just to be left despite my efforts. THAT'S what it was." He tried to convince himself. The notion of him acting on human emotions, and impulses seemed absurd.

"No Sasuke, I'm not leaving you, and I'm especially not leaving you now." She reached a hand in and stroked his face.

Kakashi screwed up his face disapprovingly. He somehow had found his way all the way to the door pressing his nose against it.

"Just get on with it…" he whispered.

"What's wrong then?" Sasuke sighed, sounding a little calmer now.

"I'm pregnant. I've been pregnant for a while now, but I just haven't been able to tell yet… for sure I mean." She said finally. She laughed and smiled nervously.

He stared at her blankly.

"That's it?" he muttered. "That's really all you had to tell me?" he continued.

There was an awkward silence and all three ninjas stood where they were anticipating the other's reply.

Sakura nodded and tried not to smile.

"See you got yourself all worked up over nothing!" she laughed, giving in.

"Oh god…" he groaned yet again.

"That's probably just as bad, you idiot!" he cried. She was a little disheartened to hear that but he didn't seem as angry as before.

"So… do you think you're more up for it than you were before Sasuke?" she asked calmly.

He leant back in his chair, supporting himself with his toes, thinking for a long while, carefully of course, about her question.

The last time we spoke about this I right out denied that I'd ever want this. She's not leaving me, which I've been dreading for the past month, and she's an overly talented medic and somehow she didn't know if she was pregnant or not until now." He thought.

He ran that over in his head for a bit longer. How could a medic such as herself NOT know something like that? That's like saying … he couldn't find an analogy as ridiculous as the situation provided.

"It's obvious that last month or whatever, she was asking me about having a family because she already knew she was expecting but didn't want to tell me without knowing my reaction first, but now it's been too long for her to hide it anymore and even though she knows I don't want kids, she's got to tell me anyway." He concluded.

"Look sakura," he began finally.

"I'm not very pleased with you from withholding this from me. I will however ask you give me time to think about this. I still don't think I'm competent, nor do I really want this, but I'm sure we can make a compromise to suit us both. Can you come back next week? I need to think this over." He proposed.

Sakura, completely rejoicing in her head over his… somewhat positive response, simply nodded and smiled.

"Oh thank god Sasuke, I knew you'd at least give it a chance!" she shook with joy. He rolled his eyes, but nodded. He didn't speak another word as she got up and kissed him through the bars, before leaving for the door.

Shocked at Sasuke's response, and utterly shattered that his prediction of the situation has been incorrect, Kakashi only narrowly escaped being caught at the door. He watched her leave from the ceiling.

"Well so much for that…" he sighed.

He dropped down after he was sure that sakura was well and truly out of sight.

He rubbed his face and rested his back against the wall. He slid down it and folded his arms atop his knees and stared at them.

Sasuke spied him from the doorway, which sakura had left open in her rush.

"How long has HE been there?" he sneered.

"Hey, you fucking pervert, what the hell are YOU still doing here?" he shouted. Kakashi jumped up and whipped around.

"I came back to check on you." He lied.

"Check on me? What the fuck is there to check? My eyes are as dead as they can get! I can barely even see! You guys are just fucking paranoid. Get off my case, and next time you want to eavesdrop, can you do it better? Because for a world famous ninja, that was pretty sloppy." He insulted.

Whether he had been actually eavesdropping or not he was unsure, but it made Kakashi seem off guard.

"W-what… why the hell would I listen in on you?" he retorted, stilling his nerves and keeping his composure.

"I've got a world of better things to do than stick my nose in other peoples' business. Now if you don't mind, I'm getting out of here." He locked and closed the door, unhappy that he had been detected.

"Asshole." Sasuke shouted. He fell silent again, and his thoughts wandered back to sakura.

"Hmmm… I can't believe I'm going to be a father… a shitty one most likely. Thanks dad, you really set me up for life didn't you?" he sneered at the very thought of his dreaded father.

"Making me feel like I was unloved because I wasn't the best, and then years later I find out all I was to you and the rest of the clan was another number to add to their army. Pfft, to think I ever wanted you to love me." He closed his eyes and tried to stop thinking about Fugaku. It was too painful to go there.

Out in the hallway Kakashi was trying to wait until the coast was clear before approaching sakura. He wanted her alone.

She and Hinata seemed to have discovered each other and were deep in conversation.

"So you told him you were pregnant? Wow, how did he react? I'm yet to tell Naruto… although I've got far less to be afraid of than you, I'm sure of it!" she laughed, resting a hand on her own abdomen.

"Oh, he was fine with it. Poor Sasuke thought I'd come to say I'm leaving him… he even threw a fit over it, but I got him to shut up. He seems annoyed with me over all, but that can be expected. He said he'd think about it." She replied.

"Oh! That's wonderful! I'm so glad you're making improvements with him! But I'm worried too… do you really think it's good to have kids when he's stuck with life in prison? How is a kid going to handle that?" she pondered.

"And plus, the village isn't too fond of him, or you, so he might even get abused for it. Oh, that'd be horrible if we had another Naruto on our hands… it's not his fault his dad is Sasuke…" she began worrying further and further. Kakashi nodded his head, and thought that over. He could potentially use those points when he confronted sakura.

"Yeah, but if anyone tried to pick on my little boy… or girl… I'd punch them a new mouth. You know, if Kushina was still alive she'd have given almost all of us a good beating for treating Naruto the way we did" sakura replied.

Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows.

"My god this is tedious." He complained. All he wanted was to find a way to convince her to rethink this ridiculous obsession with Sasuke. It had been an unhealthy obsession to begin with, and six or seven years on, it was even worse. The thought of that infuriated him, despite his usual calm manner of dealing with things. Maybe it was the fact that love was involved that seemed to be provoking these foreign feelings.

"Oh well, if you say so. I've got to go back to bed sorry… I need my rest, and you probably should get going too." Hinata finally decided to finish up.

Kakashi perked up and stared intensely at them.

Sakura and Hinata finished up, and about five minutes later, sakura had headed out the door and was surely leaving the house now. Kakashi progressed toward the door and waited until Hinata had gone back to bed, and sakura had left the house.

When they did, he snuck out and then left via the window that he came in from. Sakura wasn't too far ahead of him. He had to try and find a way to convince her to change her mind, just like he had almost done several times before.

Just like sakura has put off her own confession, Kakashi had put off his which was most likely why his chances had been slimmed so drastically.

He leapt up into the trees and kept an eye on the ground for her.

"Sakura…" he muttered.


	6. Kakashi's Dilemma

Chapter Five: Kakashi's Dilemma – will he get his way, or is it a lost cause?

Kakashi eventually caught up to Sakura. He eyed her from the trees and moved silently, as he didn't want to approach her just yet. This morning he had sent a shadow clone of his to try and stop her from coming to Sasuke while he carried on with his business with him, but that didn't work.

Finally she had stopped to take a break it had appeared. She sat and rested her head in her hands, wishing that the bench she had crossed was a little more comfortable. He progressed a few meters further from her, and then dropped down. He turned around and approached her.

She looked up only for a second before looking away with an irritated look on her face.

"So, Sakura… You don't heed warnings well at all. I was going to be a while, and I didn't want you to have to see that argument. We have a lot of those." He stated. She ignored him.

He sat down next to her and cocked his head to the side.

"You aren't mad at me still are you? It's not like I want to argue with him. He's just difficult with me." He tried to persuade her to pay attention to him.

She sighed and kept looking away. The weather had cooled down considerably, and she held her arms. A small, but cold gust of wind moved in their direction, and she sighed again.

Kakashi, mostly absentmindedly, pulled her over and rubbed her arms to try and warm her. She gasped and whipped around to look at him, startled and mildly annoyed.

"Kakashi, you've been acting really weird lately. I don't know what your problem is, but I just need you to leave me alone." She stated finally. Kakashi gave her a hurt look, even though he knew she couldn't see it. It was truly hurtful… he couldn't leave her alone. He was drawn to her.

"Well, that's been a little difficult for me to do lately, Sakura." He began, pulling away from her a little bit despite his strong urge to hold her longer.

"How has it been 'difficult'? You were able to avid me all the time when we were team seven." She replied, simmering with frustration.

"Well, it's quite simple. When I first met you I told you I hated you. Now that you're older, more mature and actually make sense, I don't." he wanted to kick himself for sounding so blunt, and stupid, but he kept his calm.

"I mean… I like you more then I used to." He cringed at the way that sounded as well.

Sakura stared at him bewildered. She scooted away and then got up to leave. Kakashi appeared in front of her. He rested his hands on her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes. He wasn't normally this lost for words. The right words anyway… he wished that his blunt, straight to the point self would come back just for this moment so that he could be over and done with it, but he knew already what kind of a reception that would get. Being sensitive was so much trouble though…

"I thought you liked me better too…" he spoke softly. "I'm only trying to be here for you. In any way that I can, I really am." He begged her to hear him out.

She lifted his hands off her shoulders and then replied,

"Yeah, you are more of a friend to me than you used to be, but in the past week or so you've suddenly become all clingy, and possessive. It's almost like you're obsessed with me, and I'm getting claustrophobic just thinking about it." She turned on her heel and stormed off, hoping she'd be able to lose him eventually without having to take to the trees.

It was no luck though. Getting a little frustrated both with her and himself Kakashi bolted and stood in front of her again.

"Sakura, I'm not obsessed with you, but I'm going to just be honest. It's pretty close. I'm more disturbed and concerned about your obsession with Sasuke. It's been going on for too long to be normal, and your mental state could probably be questioned." He blurted out. He mentally kicked himself again, but he felt good to get that out.

Sakura by this point had had just about enough.

"What the hell are you saying? 'Disturbed and concerned'? How ridiculous can you get? I don't know why I still love him! Maybe it's none of your business to be worrying about!" she shouted.

"Well tell me this then, if you trust him so much, then what if he's been lying to you this whole time?" he shouted back. He hadn't ever remembered shouting at her before, unless it was to enable her to hear him. It felt horrible, but this was her safety… and the feeling of urgency was probably enlarged by his personal interest in her as well.

"Lying to me? About what?" she nearly screamed.

"About loving you… He's psychotic, he hasn't got emotions anymore. He's probably just using you to try and get out of there. The last thing he wants is a kid to get in the way!" He shouted back, but with a lower volume this time.

He froze and looked down at his suddenly very interesting feet. How long had he been assuming that? Where did that even come from?

Those had been his exact thoughts it's true, but when said out loud it sounded so harsh.

He didn't even get a chance to register her movements, because he wasn't paying attention. All he remembered was a large amount of blood escaping his mouth and then hitting a tree.

A large cracking sound in the distance fell on his ears. It was dull and groaning, and he only hoped that if he had just broken a tree, that it landed elsewhere than on him.

Sakura shook and tears poured down her face. The one person she thought she was getting closer to the most, turned out to be just like the rest of them. It was probably true that no one saw things her way, nor did they care to try and put themselves in her position.

He was just like the rest of them now.

"YOU were the one lying to me..." She cried. She continued home, and didn't look back.

She arrived home and slammed the door shut. She took off most of her clothes, which were all dirty and cold and she turned on the heater. Sitting down on the floor with a book in her hands, she tried to forget the things that happened today. Most of them anyway…

Sasuke had said he would think about it… that most likely meant that with any luck he would say yes. If he said no, then she would just raise the kid on her own and visit Sasuke less frequently until she could leave the kid home alone, or with someone trustworthy.

Maybe even if he said no at first, one day he might finally want to meet his son or daughter, and then he would be ready to try and be a dad. For now though, she would just let him think about it.

"He's psychotic… He's using you…" those words ran through her head and sent chills of rage throughout her body, causing her to throw her book and burst into tears again.

"I thought he was…" she drew back and sobbed again. She rolled on to her side and curled up. She felt as if she was losing people too rapidly. Actually, she was more realising that she was. She longed for the days when her only enemies were people she barely knew, and everyone her age generally liked, or even loved her…

She crawled over to the kitchen and stared around at the furniture. She dragged herself over to the fridge and pulled out a random bowl from the previous night and began eating it. She didn't care if it was cold, and slightly discoloured. All she wanted to do was eat and then go to sleep.

Each little grain of rice in the bowl, died brown from the soy sauce gathered at the bottom of the bowl, and the chicken in it much drier than it used to be, and all the vegetables soggy and cold… she endured it as if it were almost difficult to eat and then silently crawled over to her room. She didn't have the motivation to get up, let alone somehow clamber her way onto her bed. She pulled the blanket and the pillow down onto the floor and curled up.

"He's psychotic… he has no emotions anymore" the thought droned in her head.

She began to tear up again as the thought set itself deep into her mind.

Earlier that day she had surely pondered about the speed at which he was improving. It had only been a year, and they were so functional and stable already. Maybe Kakashi was right… as much as it enraged her to think it.

What if it was an act? A façade to try and persuade them to let him free… she drew back a deep shaky breath and closed her eyes tightly, shutting out the tears and shifting on the floor to make herself comfortable.

All the lights were left on, and the fridge door left open. It wasn't really her concern anymore.

Back in the forest

"One… Two… One… Two…" A tired but determined voice, only barely audible, chanted with each breath as it drew quieter and quieter. The owner of the voice had slowed down his previously intense speed down to a run, which eventually simmered down into a jog before finishing off entirely.

"Phew… I might be out of shape… only three hundred and ninety seven laps and I'm almost out of breath…" He panted. He sat down, practically collapsing on himself. He got up quickly and straightened himself into a normal sitting posture, although aware that there was no audience, he still felt a little self-conscious.

A smaller, less tired ninja, identical to the former soon caught up, and screeched to a halt, eyeing his idol with a worried expression.

"Gai… are you okay? It's only three more to go before we hit the next hundred. We're nearly done!" He panted.

"Oh, it's fine, Lee… I'm just a little out of shape. I'm sure I'll be able to finish soon. I just need a break." He laughed nervously. He knew it was out of character for him to say anything of the sort however.

"But… Well…" Lee thought for a while.

"You didn't actually set a limit this time… so maybe we can stop whenever we like right?" he suggested, sitting down next to him.

Gai laughed and rubbed his face furiously.

"Only today will we stop at four hundred and ninety seven. Next time I'll just have to do three extra laps to make up for it." He gave in. He was still out of character, and in his heart he felt a little sad. He had always bragged about being young, and using that to his advantage, but to be honest he couldn't keep lying to himself. He was getting older, even if not by much. It wouldn't be too long before he wasn't able to do stuff like this anymore.

"Okay then, me too." Lee smiled.

Lately Lee and Gai had been trying to make up for lost time that had occurred during the war, and the few years that had followed it.

Lee had been at home taking care of his mother and his new brother, Liang, who was the last child to his father who had died recently. It had been a hard year for him, acting almost as a father to his brother, and keeping an eye on his mother.

Gai had been having his own problems, such as that of age mentioned earlier… but also he felt that he had lived his life and given up so much of his personal interests that now that he was nearing the end of his prime, he would have nothing to really enjoy once he was too old to do this anymore.

He hadn't bothered with dating, so a family was out of the question, and the closest thing he had to family was Lee.

Lee knew this as well, although his knowledge on the subject was very little. Lee spied the depressed look in his teacher's face and tried to comfort him with a hug.

Gai was startled, but smiled brightly, returning the hug, still feeling tired, but at least a little happier.

It was a few more minutes of silence before either of them realised what lay directly before them.

"Hey Gai, it looks like a tree fell down. Look over there." He pointed it out.

Gai looked and sure enough there was a fallen tree. It seemed to have been messily cut in half, quite near the base. Surely it wasn't a natural fall.

"Perhaps someone fought here earlier… we should probably check it out…" he decided.

He had a bad feeling in his gut.


	7. An Awkward Night - Gai tries to help

**Hey guys.. I tired to submit this chapter like six times but kept failing and eventually I lost the damn authors note that I had written previously.**

**Anyway, as you all know, I'm sorry its a little OOC, but that's completely necessary. I promise that anything wrong or inaccurate I am already aware of. **

**Also, this chapter hints at a side story that's going on at the same time as this story. I might flesh it out a bit more as a second story later if I don't get to use it in this one.**

Chapter Six: An Awkward Night – Gai tries to help… will anything he says prove to be of assistance?

Lee went around one side of the tree to investigate the point at which the tree was split.

"It's got a large indent across here…" he pointed it out. "I'm assuming this was made by a person. It might be that their body as pushed into the tree at some significant speed or with force." He decided.

Gai nodded and had a closer look at the tree. The indent on the fallen half, matched up perfectly with the indent left of the standing half, and it went diagonally across it, almost vertically as if the victim had still been in a standing or upright position when he or she hit the tree.

"Whoever it was, was close to the tree, otherwise the impact may have been greater. And from the looks of this, I can assume they didn't make it." He squatted down and lee followed suit. They checked under the tree's two halves, only barely connected still.

They both fell back.

"Oh god…" Gai muttered. He got back up and took a closer look at the person stuck between the two halves of tree.

"It's… Gai isn't that?" Lee recognised the masked face currently sitting between the stump and the fallen trunk of the tree, probably only alive still by a sheer miracle.

"It fell right over him… he's lucky it didn't actually crush him!" Gai whispered, trying to calm down. The idea of Kakashi being wiped out by being punched into a tree was absurd however. Whoever the attacker was must have caught him off-guard, which was a rare and almost impossible feat.

He carefully laid him into a stable position and checked his body for any broken bones. He was still breathing, but a lot of blood seemed to be present, probably originating at the stomach which appeared to have taken all of the impact.

He was nearly about to pull him out when suddenly

"Just leave me here thanks. I don't like you touching me so much." He muttered.

"AAH!" Gai jumped back and almost hit his head on the tree.

Kakashi laughed a little and then groaned at the pain in his stomach.

"I crawled under here so that I wouldn't get wet. It's going to rain soon. I can walk though. I just need time to be left alone." He explained.

Gai sighed in relief that his comrade wasn't dead, but after looking at the tree again he began to wonder.

"So then… tell me… how the hell did…?" he pointed motioned his hands around the tree and smiled nervously. Kakashi might not want to talk about it, but he was dying to know.

"Let's just say pregnant women have super human strength, and tempers not to be messed with." He put it. Gai was confused at first, wondering who could possibly be the pregnant woman who did this…

"Wait, what? Sakura did this? But she's never actually gotten you before! What was different this time?" he prodded.

"Look, Gai, I don't want to talk about it. I've got a big enough mouth as it is, and I wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for it. I just want to be left alone. I promise you I've been through worse things without aid." He insisted. He positioned himself back into his sleeping position and then attempted to go to sleep.

Lee got up and backed away.

"If mom could have done that to me a few years ago I think I'd be dead by now!" He piped up trying to lighten up the mood.

He laughed at his own joke, but not full heartedly. There was an awkward silence.

Half an hour later

"Gai, I insist that you just put me down. I'll be fine." He protested. He didn't raise his voice, for he was afraid to strain his body, but Gai refused to listen.

"I'll get you fixed up until tomorrow and then the hospital will be open again. Just trust me." He insisted straight back.

Lee had already left for his own place, and bid the two of the luck. Kakashi was just irritated, but at the same time, in his gut, he did appreciate the help. He was just too proud, and in pain to admit it.

"Okay. I'll put you on the couch, because I haven't got any beds aside from mine, and the bathroom is in the usual place… we DO live in the same apartment building so it shouldn't be hard to figure that out. I don't have the keys to your place and when I asked sakura about that she nearly punched ME so… you stay here tonight." He stated.

"You should have gone home after you left me. Talking to sakura doesn't get you ANYWHERE, trust me I know that, and I have keys to my own place so I'll be leaving then." He said.

"Oh come on, I haven't got anything to do tonight. Just stay over for a bit and then I'll let you go okay?" Gai finally admitted.

"I am concerned about your condition but for the most part, I just need some company." He continued.

Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes. Sakura had sad the same thing to him. He felt himself being put down onto the couch, and he stayed there, secretly happy that he was dry and considerably warmer.

"Gai, I should probably stay now that I think about it." He said. Gai nodded and then left to get changed and eat something.

"I can't believe I just did what I just did." He sighed. Hopefully some useless chatter would take his mind off it.

Gai came back, and this time with a plate of food. Kakashi eyed it enviously but knew he should wait to be treated first before eating anything.

He sat down at the table in his living room / dining room and ate a bit. The silence was pretty intense, and the only sound was a sort of static, cracking buzz coming out of the light's overhead.

"So… what did you say to her?" Gai started.

"Oh please, I'd rather die than revisit that." Kakashi groaned.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Well then… do you plan on making it up to her… or will she just get over it on her own?" he asked.

"She'll get over it on her own. If I tried to make it up to her I'd end up pissing her off again. You know what I'm like with females. Can we change the subject?" he was becoming irritated again.

"Alright, sorry, I'll stop." Gai apologised yet again and then finished eating. The silence rang like anything and it was almost deafening. The buzzing lights flickered a little bit, as if to annoy them further.

"Well… you know… I have the same problem with women. I vowed off them mainly as a personal sacrifice, but I have to admit, I'm not really popular with them…" Gai almost reluctantly admitted.

He went back to his previous thoughts about how he'd lived his life so far and sighed. It was all too true.

"Oh yeah… you mean like that chick who's friend you nearly killed, and then the next day you were wondering why she was ignoring you? Yeah, I completely didn't know that!" Kakashi mocked him. He wasn't trying to be bitter, but it sounded that way.

"Hey! I'm trying to help!" Gai grumbled, chucking an empty plastic cup at him.

The cup bounced off his head and landed somehow into a nearby trash can. The two of them stared at the trash can and then cracked up laughing, Kakashi trying to not laugh due to his stomach.

"Good shot…." He said, holding his stomach gently. He soon calmed down again and then proceeded to continue the conversation.

"Well, yeah I know you're trying to help. It's actually kind of sad that you and I have the same problems. Except with you, you've had several chances whereas I should probably be taking the stance that you are." He commented.

Gai, for a number of reasons, had sworn to devote his life to his career and in the process that meant giving up a lot of personal opportunities. Kakashi at one time had made that same sacrifice but on a higher level.

He was too selfish, in a way, to give it all up. That was when he eventually decided to become a teacher, once he was grown and needing something to do for a living.

"On second thought it's better that I allow some self-interest. I can't imagine what life would be like if I hadn't become a teacher. "He added.

"Yeah me too… I really needed something like Lee in my life. The other two only needed me a little, and that was probably mutual. He's the closest thing to family that I've got." He replied.

"Ha… that could have been Sasuke for me, but luck was against us in the end. That's life though" He said.

Under his breath he added, "And now he's sitting in a cell, underneath the village being waited on hand and foot and sakura can't seem to shut up about him every five minutes."

"Yeah, he's locked up now right? I hear that he's the father, if you know what I mean. Maybe that's why she's so pissed off. I mean, can you imagine HIM with kids?" Gai screwed up his face at the absurd idea of Sasuke holding a baby. It would have been funny if it hadn't been scarier first.

"Yeah and I told sakura that too. He's not fit to be a father, or a partner, but it's not like you can insult Sasuke without getting your guts pierced to pay for it." He commented.

Gai looked at him apologetically, having realised that he had touched back on the topic again.

"Well… yeah… sorry again." He said. He got up and washed off his plate, and Kakashi stared at the ceiling thinking about anything but the source of the pain.

"Maybe with any luck her kid will like you better than his own father. I know I said I'd shut up but you know… that's what happened with me." He spoke up from the kitchen.

Kakashi tuned in… he hadn't known this.

"What do you mean 'that happened to you'?" he inquired.

In the kitchen Gai dropped his plate by mistake and shut the water off.

"Oops…" he muttered, "I should shut up now… I really, really should."

"Well, nothing exactly that, but similar things I've known to happen in the past." He explained. He rubbed his forehead and was glad that the other man couldn't see him.

"I promised the day I found out that, I wouldn't speak of it again…" he muttered to himself.

"Oh, I see. Well with any luck she'll forgive me and consider my position as his mentor. I mean, if he's going to be born an uchiha, and his father is useless, then who else is close enough to him in terms of ability. I may not be the greatest, but I'm still capable." Kakashi contemplated.

That for sure seemed a very positive, although far from satisfactory outcome. Although it was unsatisfactory at the moment, that might even change with time.

"Well… it's getting late so I should probably get to bed. I'll get a blanket for you, but that's as much as I can do now." Gai said, ready to call it a night.

"Thanks I guess." Kakashi replied, still contemplating the future.

The lights went out, and the buzzing stopped, although it's buzzing was no long irritating or mocking, but rather a reflection of the mood increasing in quality. Kakashi closed his eyes and felt that maybe if he just took a break and gave her the space she wanted, things very well might get better. He smiled and pulled his borrowed blanket up to cover himself and then sighed once more for the night.

"That might be nice."


	8. A Sandy Encounter - The Sand Sibs Visit

Chapter Seven: -Sandy Encounter - The Sand Siblings have come to visit! Do they bring comfort, or chaos?

The next week was awkward for the two, Kakashi and sakura to be exact.

As a matter of fact, they had rarely seen each other since their argument. Sakura was having the better end of the stick in fact, although it was a little complicated.

Sakura had basically moved into Naruto and Hinata's place, making use of their many spare bedrooms, and trying to do her part in keeping the place clean. She proved to be a very efficient house guest and at one point was mistaken for a house keeper by a certain visitor.

"Hey, could ya get back in here and clean up this mess? What kind of pay do they put you on to work like that?" he yelled from the other room.

Sakura stopped and whipped around, storming into the room again and she grabbed him by the collar;

"Don't you ever, EVER order me around like that do you understand?" She shouted. He smirked at her and plucked her hand off him.

"You're so touchy… just like Temari was. You guys are hilarious, you know that?" the all too familiar, painted face grinned widely as he made a run for it down the hall.

"KANKURO!" she shouted. She then proceeded to sit down and cross her arms displeased with him once again. He very well knew by now that she was a guest like him, but he kept on treating her and teasing her like she was a maid.

"Just because I like to give something back to my hosts…" she muttered.

The three sand siblings were over for a three week conference, and Naruto for the first time got to go to one. He was threatened both by Gaara and Tsunade that if he even so much as embarrassed _himself_ that they would kill him.

Kankuro had been causing unrest in the house, and Temari wasn't having a great time, just about as much as sakura.

She strolled into the room, with a tired look on her face, and her bags in her arms looking for a place to set them down.

"Hey Temari... " Sakura smiled weakly, finding it hard to enjoy herself.

Temari took a while to respond, but nodded in acknowledgement. She sat down next to her and let her bags drop to the ground around their feet. Sakura looked at her eyes and sighed, hoping that her life as a mother wouldn't be so tiring.

"You know… I find myself having to take care of my brother like he's a baby… and where is my actual baby? She's at home in the care of a loser student of my other brother's. I can't do this anymore if it's not going to allow me to just be a parent to my own kid." She complained.

"Where's her father?" Sakura asked, worrying about her own situation.

"Her 'father'…? Oh please, give me a break. The closest thing to a 'father' she has it a two night stand, who thinks the word 'pregnant' gives him an excuse to leave the village. That's where her 'father' is." She complained further.

"What about you?" Temari turned to look closer at her quickly forming bump.

"Oh, this one?" she laughed and patted her abdomen gently.

"He's not going anywhere, EVER. I made sure he was chained to a chair and locked up first!" She joked. Temari laughed too, but as the laughter subsided, that left her thinking.

"You don't really mean to say that… you know…" she motioned towards the door leading into the dungeons.

Sakura smiled nervously and nodded.

"I got him on his best behaviour down there… It's actually really nice to see him trying." She continued.

Temari was expressionless for a minute or two but then she broke into a smile, which took sakura by surprise.

"What? You're not going to judge me and tell me that I'm making the biggest mistake of my life?" she joked.

"Well… not exactly… I don't really know what to think about Sasuke, but I can say this." She rested a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"If you can find something good in him, and if he's making an effort then that gives me hopes for Gaara. I'm really glad to hear that you're one of the few people giving him a chance. Even if he is still an asshole in my opinion." She said.

Sakura cringed at the word 'asshole' but she let it slide. Temari didn't always necessarily have a way with words of kindness.

"Well… thanks I guess. And what do you mean by Gaara? Are the women all still terrified of him or something?" she asked, knowing that his situation was probably a little less extreme than Sasuke's, yet the closest anyone she knew could possibly get.

"It's more like _everyone_ is still afraid of him. And he didn't even actually _do _anything to them yet. I don't know if you're crazy, or just forgiving enough, but he could use someone as tolerant as you." She explained.

Sakura nodded, getting the whole picture now. She was still feeling a little reluctant to be happy though. She thought Kakashi would understand or at least supportive of her, which was for the most part what he made out to be, but he wasn't. She was finding it hard to be accepting of help from anyone now.

Kankuro eventually came back and was standing in the doorway staring at the two of them who were now deep in conversation. He had heard a little bit about Sasuke, and he had become curious.

Sneaking through the door, he decided that while he had nothing to do, a little bit of snooping around would be fun.

_In the cell_

"Ichi, ni, san… "Sasuke stared at the clock, which was still his foe. It was silent but it still ticked.

"I can't be bothered counting down another hour…" he muttered. He pushed off the bars with his feet and dragged himself into a corner where he attempted to turn around.

In the distance, down the hallway, he heard the door open and he paused. His face was still, but his heart was beating quickly.

"All this time, I've tried to enjoy her, but she only stays for so long. Then again, is it because we rarely see each other that she is somehow bearable? Do I really want to be free, or should I just stay down here?" he whispered.

He had been thinking, which was one of the only things that he got to do nowadays. He had been overthinking almost.

He thought often about how he would change the past, or what life would have been like if it was different to begin with. He sometimes thought about his brother, and how much he wished he could have enjoyed him more.

Lately he had been extensively thinking about how he was going to somehow manage to get them to free him.

For the most part, he was using sakura to convince them that he was worth being freed.

He didn't like to sound like he was _using_ her so to speak, but rather he was utilising the advantages that she provided him with.

Truth be told, somewhere down there he really did love her. It was just unfortunately, a lot of other mixed feelings and obstacles were in his way at the moment causing his life to be extra difficult.

From things as little as saying 'I love you' to things as major as 'I'm pregnant'… he was dealing with a hell inside his head, fighting over what he wants, and what he deserves, what he can handle, and what he can't.

He knew in his heart and in his guts that he wasn't made for the parenting business. He was left by his own, and any parental figure disgusted him. He was judged enough as it was, along with the woman he loved, but he didn't want to just bluntly shun the possibility of a family.

"Being a father… I don't think I can be a father. "He screwed up his face at the idea of him with a baby.

He needed more company, but would he be suitable enough? No, he truly didn't believe that he was ready. Sakura might be though. Sakura was ready, and willing, so by all means, she could have the child. She just wouldn't be allowed to bring the kid down to see him, and maybe could tell him about his father when he was older and mature enough to understand. Maybe they could pretend that Sasuke was dead and didn't exist, leaving the kid to live happily, never knowing.

"But Itachi did something like that to me, and look where it got me! If I had known what was going on, it may have been easier to get over… or maybe I would have been doomed even earlier, but whatever." He banged his head on the wall.

"I'd just be abusive and impatient with it. What is she thinking? What am _I_ thinking? I should have just told her I want nothing to do with it." He cursed to himself.

The doors next to his cell and down the hallway had been opened. It was clear that the person in the hallway wasn't sakura. He scooted his chair around wondering who it was.

Finally the door to his cell opened. He sat in the shadows of the corner and stared silently, waiting… just waiting for the abuse that he knew was due.

"Helloooooo? Anybody home?" a painfully annoying voice whispered loudly.

Sasuke cocked his head to the side, not speaking. He decided to remain silent and see what would happen.

The door opened a little wider, and a brown haired, rather big sort of guy poked his head through. Sasuke remained only barely visible in the shadows.

"Oh come on… there has to be a criminal in at least ONE of these cells… what a letdown!" he complained loudly.

_"A criminal… you came down here in the hopes of a criminal? For what, some sort of sick entertainment, is that why?"_ Sasuke thought to himself. He was down here having psychological and emotional turmoil, and some ugly fat guy wanted to stare at a criminal for fun.

He stepped into the room, and eyed the chair.

"Hmm… if she got knocked up in one of these rooms, then I probably shouldn't touch anything… it might have … blech…" he laughed to himself.

Sasuke was disgusted. He was talking about sakura… he had to be. As if he would have 'soiled' anything… plus, it was a long time ago, so everything had been 'cleaned' since then… how dare some idiotic stranger start laughing and ridiculing their sexual life just because it was different… and difficult.

He remained silent still. He glared hatefully at the idiot.

"Well, it can't do me any harm if the guy's not even in here. Maybe he was moved out, or maybe he escaped or something. Maybe it was even in a different dungeon." He contemplated, dropping down on Sakura's usual seat and kicking his feet up, pushing them against the bars to keep them there. He rested his arms on his stomach and stared forward.

_"Now he's sitting on her seat. This guy is pissing me off. Either they hired a really fucking retarded guard, or this guy is going to pay for intruding."_ He thought.

He waited for the guy to show some sign of not paying attention. A feeling had come to him that he hadn't felt in a long time. It was a cross between, mischief, anger, and petty revenge. It was a feeling he used to get as a child with Naruto and other idiots like him.

He, as quietly as he could, once the idiot on the chair had decided to take a nap, scooted the chair as close as he could to the bars. He poked his head through them and nudged his foot.

The idiot stirred, moving his feet a little before putting them back. Sasuke nudged them again, but harder. The idiot's eyes snapped open and he remained in that position, petrified.

Sasuke head butted his feet full force this time, knocking the feet down off the bars.

By now his hair had overgrown, causing him to have obtained a rather wild and unkempt look. He glared up from under his eyebrows at the now familiar face.

A wicked smile crossed his lips as the realization came to him as to whom this offensive clown was.

"Well, well, well…"Sasuke hissed, "It's been a while since I last saw you, Kankuro…" he held the end note of his name, and he chuckled, almost feeling a rush of hilarity wave through him.

Kankuro shook and stared at him, trying to avert his eyes but it wasn't working. He giggled out of fear, and not really knowing what to do, he slowly, rigidly scooted backwards with his own chair.

"So… you thought you'd have a bit of fun, visiting me before hours?" He drew closer until his knees hit the bars. He pulled his head back and then smiled, almost invitingly at him.

"I'm not mad! Get over here it's good to catch up with someone!" he invited him. Kankuro, unaware of what to think, scooted very slowly over to where the bars were again.

"H-hi…" he mumbled.

Sasuke drew his head nearer to the bars again.

"Hey come here… you wanna know something about sakura?" he offered.

Kankuro, still a bit worried came a bit closer.

"What?" he asked.

"No, closer, you idiot… it's a secret." He said, smirking. He was smirking at the fact that this guy was dumb enough to follow his instructions, but Kankuro took it as a good sign he came a little closer.

"We… sometimes… "He began…

Kankuro now wondered if he really wanted to hear this or not.

He didn't get much of a chance to think though because before he knew it…

"AAAH! Let go! Let go of my ear you creep!" he shouted, pulling against the bars, his ear caught tightly between Sasuke's unforgiving teeth.

"We sometimes have to deal with the biggest, ugliest idiots like YOU talking shit about us like it's FUNNY! Get the hell out of here and go back to your own village you asshole" he managed to yell into his ear, although muffled.

Kankuro, his ear ringing now, yanked away, losing a tiny piece of his ear in the process, and bolted out the door, regretting ever coming down there in the first place.

Sakura and Temari stopped and stared at the door from which the sound had come.

"Was that Sasuke?" Temari asked.

"It sounded like him, but normally he isn't all muffled." Sakura commented, worried. Some guards had been known to strangle him before…

But just as she said that, Kankuro burst through the door whimpering like a dog. He looked both ways before running out the door into the next room.

Temari and Sakura's eyes wide open, staring at the spot where Kankuro was standing and they wondered what the hell had happened…

Sakura was the first to start laughing. She looked over at Temari, and she began laughing too.

"I guess he got what he was asking for, didn't he?" Sakura laughed. Temari laughed harder and they both got up, Temari a little unsure, but trusting of Sakura's judgement.

Sakura opened the door and poked her head through, still laughing a little.

Sasuke whipped his head up to say something, but then realised that it was Sakura.

"Oh, hey babe… I'm just dealing with idiots again. Please tell me he isn't working here or anything." He droned, back to his monotonous self.

Sakura stepped in and pulled up her chair kissing him through the bars.

Temari stood in the doorway, watching them, utterly bewildered.

Sasuke eventually saw her, his face fell and he pulled back.

"So they're all here?" he mumbled.

"Oh, Temari…? Yeah, her, Kankuro and Gaara are here for a three week conference. We promise we'll keep Kankuro out of here from now on, won't we Tem?" she turned and smiled.

Temari smiled quickly and nodded.

She looked down, feeling bad almost that she was afraid to go in.

"Well are you going to stand there, or come in?" Sakura asked. Temari was unsure still, but then, getting up a bit of courage, she walked in and sat down in another chair.

Sasuke was unsure about that, but was happy at the same time to have another civilised person in his company. Little by little maybe it would be that way. Person at a time he'd gain trust again.


	9. Sakura's Decision

Chapter eight: The Decision – Sakura confronts Kakashi again…

The sand siblings, eventually completed their three week stay, and were spending their last night in Konoha to themselves, packing up and making plans to leave.

Kakashi, for the first time in that whole three weeks, watched the household as they went about their business. When Gai had spoken to him, about the child, and about projecting his love in another direction, and he had decided that if sakura were to eventually forgive him that it would probably work out.

Beneath him, on a lower branch, Sakura sat, although she was aware that she should be sticking to the ground. She was aware of his presence as well, and had come out earlier, curious as to why he was suddenly approaching her again.

In truth, she did somewhat feel bad about over reacting. It was true after all that her decisions towards Sasuke could be looked at by anyone as being unstably founded. She was after all, the only one making the decision and was the only one who could ever comprehend why.

Eventually Kakashi let his gaze drop down to the female he longed for so much, sitting equally as silent beneath him. He felt a twinge of fear. It wasn't a normal fear, but more of an unease that deeply disturbed him.

She returned the gaze finally and she wondered if he was okay… physically anyway.

He smiled and waved casually, almost jokingly, and hesitated before hopping down to face her.

She was startled but looked at him with a firm expression. She moved along the branch, trying to keep a healthy distance between them.

"Well I've had a lot of time to think about what I said to you the other day." Kakashi started, casually once again.

"Yeah… and?" she muttered, a little nervous.

He cocked his head and sighed. It wasn't going to be easy saying it, but he had to now. He hadn't done it right last time, and this was the only second chance he was ever going to give himself. She moved a little closer, realising she was being a little frigid… he deserved it of course, but still.

"I'd like to apologise. Not for what I said but for how it made you feel. You have to forgive me sakura I don't normally hold back my opinion on things. I held back my opinion on Sasuke for your sake for years, but it was time to come clean." He tried.

She looked up at him more directly and pouted a little.

"You held back your opinion for my sake? Why would you do that? Everyone else didn't! It would have been easier on me if I just knew what you thought. I wouldn't have spoken to you about it otherwise." She argued.

"Well, that might seem true now, but if you knew how I thought you would have left me. I would just be an outsider to you like everyone else who's shown their opinions. I couldn't have that, sakura." He argued in reply.

Her eyes widened a bit and she crossed her arms uncomfortably. She averted her gaze and stared through the windows at Temari and Kankuro, discussing something, and Gaara sitting on the couch, seemingly forced to endure a lengthy chat with Naruto.

She only wished that communicating with the man before her were as easy. He moved a little closer and continued.

"Sakura, for your sake I held my tongue for so long because I care about you too much. But it's because I care about you this much that I'm finally speaking out. I'm deeply concerned about his reliability, and your well-being and I don't expect that to go away any time soon." He tried not to touch her, as he was well aware of the fact that she didn't quite like that.

Sakura looked at him again and sighed. She sort of knew what he was getting at but wasn't sure if she was completely right.

It had grown considerably darker and she couldn't help but notice that his eye seemed to be glowing with the light coming from the house below, and it was burning straight into hers as she made contact with them once again. The look in his eye, she was familiar with it all too well. Naruto had looked at her the same way for a long time, mainly because he didn't understand her determination to hold onto Sasuke, and refuse his affections no matter what he tried.

He was in love with her. She immediately shoved aside that thought, and any feelings of sympathy for him, naturally.

"He's just jealous and wants me to forget about him like Naruto was. I can't give in to him, it would go against everything I've stood for this whole time." She reassured herself.

"Sakura, are you listening to me, or should I just go?" Kakashi spoke up, a little hurt that she was still being so stubborn with him.

"I don't want you to change your mind, if that's what you're thinking." He added. She looked at him quickly, a little surprised that he had sensed her thoughts.

He nodded, although sadly.

'A friend spoke to me about a few things the night you injured me, and I decided that trying to get your attention … in that way… was a bad idea, for me and for you. But instead, I need to try and maintain some form of friendship with you or else I'll feel this way forever." He explained. He gave in to the urge to hold her stomach, knowing full well that he was risking it.

He thought of the child inside, and what could possibly happen. Most of his thoughts were negative, and given his current situation that was understandable. It could have been HIS child, but that was not to be.

Sakura hesitated before gingerly placing her hands on his as they both thought about relatively the same thing.

She continued to look at him as his burning eye fixed itself on her soon to be child. She detected the sadness in it that she knew she had caused several men before him and she felt a twinge of guilt, but she knew what she wanted all along and they all just didn't match it.

What she wanted at first was Sasuke, but it had changed since then. What she wanted was for him to come back, and to return somehow to the way he was before, and if not something similar. She wanted to be there for him when no one else seemed to care, and was overjoyed when her wished were met as he unexpectedly accepted her offer, and her love. She truly thought about it for a minute and knew that no one could possibly know that feeling and what it was like for her, so why was she always punishing and reprimanding people for something that they have no comprehension of? It wasn't their fault at all.

"Kakashi, I won't deny that I've been a little reckless and insensitive. I also, apologise that I haven't been all that patient with you… and others… or considerate for that matter. But, I can't give up on what I've chosen to do." She whispered.

He looked at her again and nodded, happy that she seemed to be dealing with this well, and better than he had thought too. He tried to pull his hands away but she held them there. He was startled but didn't refuse against it.

"I can't live like this, losing people left and right, and I know that you can't live like that anymore either. I think we both need to come to some sort of compromise don't you?" She began.

"Yes, I think that would be the best thing to do at the moment. I'm happy with anything you choose." He replied, almost eager to come to an agreement.

He felt a nervous, almost excited tingle throughout him and he breathed deeply to try and calm himself. He was surely inexperienced with these emotions, and this kind of a situation.

She smiled at him and leant back her head, trying to think of something that could possibly be sufficient.

She wanted to stay friends with him, but Sasuke would eventually catch on and get extremely jealous, which may lead to violence, and she didn't want to leave Sasuke for another man, even if he did seem to be the better option as far as kids went.

Then again, Kakashi seemed like the kind of guy that was good with adolescents rather than small children. The image of him trying to change a diaper came to her mind and she couldn't hold back her laughter at the absurd idea.

He stared at her, a bit confused and curious as to what was so funny. Perhaps she was cracking under the tension or something.

"Sakura, if you wouldn't mind, I did have one idea. It came to me a few weeks ago, but you don't have to agree to it." He began.

Sakura tried to calm down enough to listen to him, and it took a while.

"Well so long as it doesn't involve you changing diapers, I'm fine!" she giggled. Kakashi's eye widened and he raised his brows at the idea of him struggling with such a task. He sniggered a little bit, but was able to compose himself a little better and faster than sakura.

"N-no, not at all, trust me. I was thinking… if I can't directly be a part of your life," he let his gaze drop down to her stomach again, "then at least let me be a part of his." He suggested, assuming the child would be male. He had always assumed it would be male for some reason.

That was probably due to his own imaginings of teaching a new Sasuke… one that was less inclined to betray him so violently, and one that he might be able to get to know better.

Sakura nodded slowly as that very thought sunk into her own mind. It was truly an appealing image;

Kakashi training and mentoring her son or daughter the way she was and Sasuke was. Maybe even, given Sasuke's inability to use his bloodline gift, Kakashi might be the only person left who could try and teach them that kind of stuff… of course Sasuke would have to help, given that there were surely areas that Kakashi was unaware of, but for the most part it could very well be their only option if at all.

"I'll talk to Sasuke about that. I don't want to be alone… and you've been there for me for longer than the others… well excluding Naruto that is… and it would mean a lot to keep you in my circle. I'll see what we can agree on." She concluded.

Although a little irritated that she was going to bring Sasuke into this discussion, he was glad that she was giving him a chance. The mood had considerably mellowed and it was full night. Sakura carefully leant over to hug him, before bidding him goodnight, and descending the tree, ready to go back to her apartment the next day.

She entered the house and started helping the three siblings pack and plan for their trip back, hoping that they too like Kakashi would become closer to her over time. They chatted and discussed when they might come to visit next, hoping that they could come for a more casual visit sometime. Finally they were packed up and ready for the next morning

Still outside in the tree, Kakashi sat there a while longer, letting the imprint of Sakura's body touching his linger on him, waiting for her scent to fade away gradually. He was truly infatuated with her, both in her looks and in her spirit, but he knew that eventually he would have to make room for a new person to love.

"I hope it's a boy. It has to be, or else." He muttered to himself, before chuckling a little at his immaturity… as if he had control over that.

He jumped down and made his way home, feeling ten times better than he had when he arrived.

The trickiest part for him was over, and he didn't even have to say "I love you."

He was, by far, completely satisfied.


	10. Flowers from friends-Unexpected kindness

**Now as you all darn well know, this is an Obito/Tobi aware fanfic and I'm sorry about that. Some people aren't happy about that apparently but not only do I like the 'Tobito' theory but it is also compulsory for my story.**

**I also will reveal that yes I am using a lot of mainstream pairings... I like them, so there XD**

Chapter nine: A few months later… - Flowers from friends. Sakura receives love and care from unexpected places…

During the night, Sasuke was handled by a guard or two, who would carefully take him out of the toilet and then he would be strapped into a bed, which was in another cell, separate to his sitting one.

Tonight he was being handled by Kakashi, much to his dismay. A few months ago sakura came to him out of the blue and stated that Kakashi was to be the godfather of their child. He had protested strongly against it, but after her insistence and constant nagging he finally gave in, and that's not to mention, the few outer opinions on the matter that he later received from Naruto and Hinata. Everyone but him seemed to think it was a good idea. He was the only one who knew why he didn't want this though.

"I can't believe they're going to let you contaminate my kids mind! I won't allow it! I want that kid to grow up to be as oblivious as I was, and I don't want him to ever, EVER learn how to use what he's got!" He shouted.

He rolled his eyes at him and explained to him once more:

"I'm not permitted to teach him 'those' sorts of things. Its power is so feared by now that even I have been forbidden to use it, unless under severe circumstances. "He replied sharply.

"I don't care! I don't want you around my kid at all! You'll just brainwash him into hating me!" he kicked with all of his slowly diminishing might and narrowly missed a rather sensitive region.

"Hey, watch it! I'm doing everything in my power to not fuck with your mind right now! Is it really that revolting to you that I'm trying to help?" he asked, exasperatedly, strapping his legs down extra tight.

Sasuke shouted at the friction caused by the ropes and spat in Kakashi's direction.

"If trying to help me means hitting on my girlfriend, and then trying to father my child then fuck off, I'm happy with what I've got already thanks!" He hissed.

Kakashi rubbed his face, knowing that he would soon have a headache after this. He didn't reply and left the room promptly, only just remembering to lock it before hurrying out of that entire area. Sasuke was like a horse brought to water… one that's convinced that the water is poison.

It had been this way ever since the first mention of Kakashi and Sakura's arrangements had been made. It not only was violent, annoying, and ongoing but it was also rather drawn out and seemingly forced… this behaviour of his. It was as if, although he knew they needed the help, he was so mortified that he just had to make his opinion known at any given moment. It was like he was a little kid, writhing and screaming and complaining and even crying in frustration at times, purely because he didn't like Kakashi.

"That has got to change someday…" He muttered, knowing full well that it just might not.

He made his way up the steps and entered the living room of the house attached. Hinata smiled and waved to him, having heard most of the argument from below.

"I can make some lunch, if you'd care to stay a bit." She offered, and as she said that she got up and left for the kitchen.

He didn't feel comfortable eating at someone else's house, but he stayed, hoping that he could just eat and get home as fast as he could. Hinata poked her head out, as if she was still awaiting a reply.

Seeing an opportunity to get out of there he shook his head and apologised.

"I'm sorry, I just need to go home and rest right now. It's nothing personal of course." He explained. She nodded, understanding, and he made his way out the door. She looked on at him, worried.

"Naruto, they always fight so much. Won't that complicate things even further?" she sighed.

Naruto was forcefully absorbed in work that he had been putting off for the past six days and couldn't pay any attention to her. If he had just done it when she had told him to, then he wouldn't be this disorganised and rushed all the time. They might even have time to make plans for their own lives, which at the moment seemed to have been put on hold for the sake of this horrible crash-course he had been forced to endure.

She let it slide though, knowing that he would eventually learn better. She gingerly approached the door to the dungeons and wondered if it was a good idea.

The last time she had gone down there, Sasuke had sensed her ill judgement of him, and he had a fit. She didn't necessarily think any better of him, but for Sakura's sake she thought she might at least see if he was hurt.

"Ah-ah… No! Get away from that door!" Naruto 'commanded' as if he were talking to a dog.

He didn't mean to sound so degrading, but she understood the pressure he was under at the moment, and how it caused him to be abrupt and curt all the time.

"You'll get yourself hurt again. You need to stop doing that, it's kind of counterproductive." He continued before ferociously returning to his work. She sighed again and decided that a trip down to visit sakura was a better idea.

At Sakura's place, she was currently being cared for by a friend or two, as her body and mind had become badly affected by the hormonal changes. During her early months she was able to escape them at the best of times, but eventually they kicked in before disappearing for a while. Now that her due date was drawing nearer they had come back and were giving her hell.

"Wow! I saw a foot!" the blonde exclaimed, examining Sakura's belly as she rested on the couch.

"Yeah, he's a kicker. All he does is wrestle with himself in there." She lightly complained, although she found it cute.

'It really feels weird having another person inside me." She added.

Temari, her friend, paused and held back a few sniggers. A mischievous glint in her eye caught Sakura's attention.

'Hey! Whoa! Not like that you sick perverted woman!" she laughed, tossing a tissue box in her general direction. Temari blocked it and continued to laugh with her.

A knock on the door interrupted them.

"Come in!" Sakura called.

"Are you sure?" a voice called back. It wasn't who she thought it was.

"Huh?" she muttered.

"Who's that out there?" she called. It was odd for her to have visitors from around town. Temari got up and decided to answer the door for her.

"It's me, it's… oh… Temari…" His face dropped even further than it already was as the blonde answered the door.

Temari took one uninterested look at him and then closed it again.

"It was no one, they left." She called back to sakura.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" she cried.

"Another prank…" she grumbled.

'Excuse me, but TEMARI YOU'RE A BITCH. Let us IN for fuck sake, we actually have something for sakura!" a female voice piped up.

Sakura's eyes widened and she stopped breathing for a minute. If that was the annoying female voice that she thought it was, then she was most definitely NOT letting them in her house.

"Go AWAY, Ino! We don't want your ugly presence!" she shouted. What the hell could Ino have for her?

The thinner blonde opened the door and pointed at her, enraged.

"This was Shikamaru's idea not mine! I'm not coming in there, he is! So just shut up!" she shouted. Shikamaru sighed and looked at sakura apologetically.

Sakura and Temari both rolled their eyes. Sakura beckoned Shikamaru to enter. She didn't have anything against him at least, although Temari seemingly did.

"Hey… sorry about her, I told her not to follow me. She insisted on coming along to make sure I wasn't 'up to no good'." He explained.

He set down a little planter next to her.

Sakura and Temari stared wide eyed at the pretty little pink flowers and then up at Shikamaru, who looked so out of place, and awkward.

"She didn't like that I was giving another person flowers, but when she told me why she hadn't sold them, I just had to. With all the crap you've been through you deserve a bit of lightening up." He explained, his eyes closed, and his face turned as if to hide his awkward blush. He wasn't used to pleasing women, seeing as he normally offended them somehow, but he was doing well so far from what he could sense.

"Oh my god, Shikamaru! Thanks! I actually didn't know you cared!" she exclaimed drawing nearer to the little planter admiring the beautiful blossoms once again.

"Well I do actually. You'd be surprised, a lot of people care about you. We just don't know how to act around you. It's awkward… and troublesome." He muttered, still feeling out of place. He backed away slowly, hoping that he wasn't being too curt.

"We all wish you the best of luck… you know… with the baby. At first I'll admit everyone thought you were crazy, but I guess we've all sort of looked at it more maturely since then." He admitted. He received an icy glare from Temari who seemed to be waiting for him to leave, and sakura sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, oh well. I hope the best of luck comes to me. You can go now if you want! Don't feel like you have to stay here. You look so unhappy!" she laughed. He laughed too and turned around to leave not saying anything more. And angry, jealous Ino awaited his return at the door.

She stuck her tongue out at Sakura before closing the door behind the two of them and leaving.

"Wow, you're getting a lot of visitors today. Before we know it you'll be giving birth and the hospital won't have enough room for all the people who come to see!" Temari joked.

"I sure as hell hope not! I want to be left alone when I give birth! Two or three people tops, I just don't see why a huge crowd would want to stick around to watch me push a baby out of my body." She grumbled. It wasn't a nice image, but she knew she was going to have to go through with it.

She stole a glance at the flowers. The planter had been changed, so it appeared that Ino had actually taken her advice to save those same flowers for someone special enough. Perhaps it was her own luck, or maybe it was a coincidence, but she was glad to see their cheerful little petals once again.

Another knock on the door was heard.

"Is it another flower delivery?" Temari called out, almost expecting Shikamaru to have come back.

"No… I don't buy flowers. It seems a bit cliché don't you think?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the notion of him bringing flowers. He didn't even bring flowers for Obito….

His heart sank as he thought of Obito. He was still coming to terms with the fact that he had been Tobi's identity. He wasn't the type to believe rumours like that back when they were rumours but in the end it was all true. The fact that Obito has changed as he had disgusted him.

Although, in his mind, now that he knew about the Uchihas, he wondered if Obito knew about the plans of his clan in the same way Itachi knew at that age. He couldn't help but wonder if he was actually a friend or if he was just… acting… like the rest of them.

"Obito." He whispered.

"Well are you going to stand out there, or do we have to invite you in? My god, men are annoying!" Temari called out.

Kakashi snapped out of it and proceeded to enter.

"Sorry guys, lost in thought… I normally am" he explained, a little embarrassed. He was drawn to look at the pot of flowers beside Sakura's couch.

"Oh, so I see that miss superiority stepped down enough to let you buy a few flowers." He stated. She shook her head and explained;

"Shikamaru insisted that Ino take them to me. She told him what I had said and decided that I deserved them to begin with." She said, still trying to get used to the idea of other people caring about her.

"Oh, wow, really?" he said, truly astonished that somebody as remote as Shikamaru cared, particularly after being so close with someone like Ino.

He sat down on the couch as sakura made a bit of room for him. He and Temari began to converse somewhat, while sakura admired the flowers.

She had missed them, whenever she passed that flower shop, she couldn't help but miss them. Their cheerful, pink, delicate petals, glowing in the sunlight from the window were a sight to be enjoyed. They didn't appear to have any sort of aroma, but that didn't matter as it was compensated for by the simple but pretty shape and emotion that they held.

Perhaps, she wasn't an outcast like she thought she was. Perhaps people were like Kakashi and were more concerned for her than they were judgemental. She had become so paranoid and self-hating that she had turned a blind eye to the worries and concerns of other whom although had no understanding, truly cared about her.

She felt herself grow rather tired and began to fall asleep.


	11. Neglect Induced Grudges and Naming

Chapter ten: Jealousy and Neglect! – A simple wish to choose a name reignites a grudge, and begins a new one

After her surprise visit from Shikamaru, she realised that maybe all of that judgement that she had felt before was just imagined, or if not, intensified by her own paranoia. She was heading out for the first time in a long time today. She hadn't seen Sasuke at all in those few but long weeks, and was eager to get there as fast as she could.

And of course, what better way to get there fast without hurting herself than to hire someone to take her there?

"Um… are you sure you're okay with this?" The man asked for the umpteenth time. Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Kiba, I trust you. You aren't as stupid as you used to be. Plus, for a giant dog, Akamaru-chan is pretty reliable for a smooth ride. I haven't even felt the bumps." She reassured him.

The giant white dog barked happily in reply Kiba still seemed unsure though. Kiba was a guard who was hired to keep watch around the premises of the Hokage's residence and the prison, so while he was on his way to work, Sakura decided to hitch a ride.

He was reluctant at first but then agreed. It had been years since she had taken a ride on his dog, and she smiled and thought about the first time she tried.

If you thought riding a horse was difficult, then you have had it easy.

"Okay, so what do I just get on? Or will he throw me off?" She asked cautiously. A younger Kiba waved his hand at her and smiled, carefree.

"Go ahead, I don't mind, he's perfectly trained to carry humans! Just don't pull on his ears or anything." He replied. Sakura slowly approached the big white canine. His fur glistened blindingly in the summer sun, and the content, almost amuse look on his face was precious. He lowered himself down to a more suitable level for sakura and she smiled and giggled nervously.

"You're right, he obviously knows what he's doing!" she called back.

She clambered up onto his back, almost squealing at the feel of his coarse fur under her knees. It tickled and she wasn't paying attention. Akamaru stood up and sakura nearly fell off, crying out with shock before leaning forward as fast as she could to grab a hold off his neck. Kiba laughed and fell on his butt, and she stuck her tongue out at him. Hinata and Shino, the spectators who had been casually training alongside them paused and stared at the great white dog, wondering if she was going to be able to survive this.

Sakura looked at the happily panting face of Akamaru, and reached down to pet his neck gently as he rode swiftly but carefully.

"He's much more respectable of a dog than he used to be when I first tried to ride him!" she commented. He whimpered in protest, and Kiba laughed.

"Yeah, I think he's grown up a bit. Much like all of us, you know?" he answered.

They eventually reached the point at which Kiba and Akamaru were posted at for the day, and Sakura had to make her departure. The dog lowered himself, and with a bit of effort, Kiba lifted her up and off safely, not wanting to watch her fall on her face… for once….

"You be careful you know… we don't want that kid getting any brain damage, you got it?" he joked. She rolled her eyes and turned to depart.

"Hey sakura… what are you gonna name it anyway?" he called. She stopped where she stood and thought for a minute.

"I… I'm not actually sure. We haven't been able to talk about it. I'm still not even sure if he wants this kid or not." She answered. Kiba shrugged and then returned to his business, leaving sakura to be able to continue on.

A name… she was nearly ready to have her baby and she hadn't even bothered to pick out a name for the poor thing. Judging by the way her body was responding, and using a bit of her natural medical talents she had decided that it was probably a boy that was to be born, but she couldn't be certain. She was also sure that the kid would be born looking just like his father, which could be either a good thing or a bad thing.

"Uchiha…" she mouthed the word, curious. Naruto had been given his mother's last name to protect him from his father's enemies. What if she had to do the same with her own child? What would Sasuke say if his first son never got to be recognised for his true heritage? What would be the point in trying to clean the uchiha name, if he wasn't one at all?

"Oh god, I hadn't thought about this and I probably should have." She whined, scolding herself for letting something like that slip through the cracks.

"Well I'd offer him my last name, but I know where that would get him." A familiar voice spoke up. She stopped and looked up, having come back to reality for a moment.

"Oh, Kakashi, seriously… As if I'm going to name him after you!" she joked. She poked his nose and walked straight past him.

"Oh, come one sakura, I've done so much for you, don't I deserve some credit?" he joked along with her. He followed her carefully, still wary of her wildly swinging emotions.

"The most I'd let you have part in the naming game would be to tell me if it sounds stupid. You're honest enough to at least tell me that right?" she said.

He tilted his head to the side and thought about that. It was true, he wouldn't lie if the name sounded dumb, but that was only his opinion wasn't it?

"If you want me to, but to be honest, like you said, I'm pretty good at honesty, it's more you and Sasuke who should be working on that." He admitted.

"Yeah probably… I don't like the fact that I'll probably have to use my name for his. It's just not fair. But I suppose, safety should come first." She looked down at her feet and remained silent for a while.

"Yeah that's absolutely right." Kakashi responded. Even if it was his child they were talking about he would have to say the same thing to her. He sighed.

"So, upon the assumption that you haven't thought of any names, do you at least know anything right at the moment that you might consider? I don't meant to pry but I'm really curious." He continued. They were nearing the entrance to Naruto's place and he knew that he wouldn't be welcome for too long.

"Well, I have a few relatives who've tried to give me names, but I keep ignoring them. I might have to go and ask them again. And Kakashi, you are so impatient!" she exclaimed, grinning.

"I'll let you know last now, just because you can't wait." She teased.

"Oh dear." He replied simply, chuckling to himself.

He paused and watched her continue towards the door. There was still a void in his heart at the moment, and while she was all up in an excitement like this it was hard to return to normal… it was hard to spend any time with her anymore.

"Well, I guess I do have other… comrades…?" he considered. That one night he spent talking to Gai was a little different from what he had expected and since then not another moment similar to that had occurred.

"I think I'll go home and sleep." He muttered.

"Or…"

In Sasuke's cell, he was nearly daydreaming, and didn't even notice his visitor until she chucked a shoe at him.

"Ack! What the hell?" he exclaimed. He screwed up his face at her, and looked away quickly. Although he was somewhat more used to the notion of being a parent, he was really starting to get annoyed with her enthusiasm.

It was as if she thought it was going to be easy, it was as if she was ignoring and forgetting about all of the hardships that parenting calls for, and with parents like them it was sure to be a nightmare.

Of this he was almost certain. Yet there she was, smiling and laughing all the time like nothing was wrong. Either she was really good at faking her emotions, and better than him at that, or she was truly unaware of the pure stress and difficulty that any normal, sane human being would be feeling right about now.

Of this he was above certain.

"So you came to see me finally, right? What happened now?" he grumbled. She never came to visit him to love him anymore. She rarely even kissed him, and he was actually severely missing their alone time. The kid wasn't even born yet and it was already getting in the way.

"Well, after realising I'm nearly about ready to have the damn kid, I also realised it's more or less got no name." she paused, hoping that he would continue her proposal through his thoughts.

"Oh god…" he rolled his eyes and stole a glance at her from the corner of his eye.

"I know it's cheesy, but I seriously wanted to know if you had any names in mind." She persisted.

"Why do I love this insufferable woman? Why did I let myself go this far?" he muttered, nearly audible.

"Now come on, it's just a few names. One or two will do." She crossed her arms mildly displeased with his reluctance.

Sasuke gave in and faced her again. He stared blankly at the ground and pondered for a while any name that came to mind immediately. A multitude of names came to mind, but then again, any names that meant anything to him would probably be treated like trash in the outer world, especially given the fame and terror that some of them held. It wasn't worth it to dare try any of them.

"All the names that are close to me are the names of dangerous and evil people. No other names come to my mind." He stated.

Sakura sighed and thought about that for a minute. It was true that he had many emotional connections and very controversial ties with bad people. Her ties weren't as strained and difficult as his, but she didn't want to be the one to choose a name to be honest.

Sasuke sighed as well, as the one name resurfaced itself for the sixteen-billionth time.

"Itachi." He stated. Sakura jumped in her seat and stared at him. Why of all people would he choose the one who screwed him up in the first place?

Sakura like many other people in Konoha and the world never knew nor did they ever discover the truth about the gentle and selfless shinobi that was Uchiha Itachi.

"Why?!" she demanded to know.

"Oh don't give me that tone of voice, I have several reasons why. I just can't be bothered vocalising them. It's not like you'd understand." He snapped at her. He regained his composure and then stared at the ground again. He couldn't tell her that. He didn't want to think about it again. It was Itachi's sacrifice that caused him to hate this village so much. Thinking about him would only force that feeling of hatred to resurface and all of his progress will have gone to waste… even if most of this was an act.

It was and act… he was trying to make that act become truth. He wanted it to be real, so that he could just be free. He no longer cared what happened to this stupid village or any other one at that, he just didn't want to live his life in this stupid cell.

He didn't want to be a father either. He had decided that a while ago, and sakura wasn't making life easy for him. He had gone from black to white, to black again concerning the issue and it was just too much for him. Why should he have to choose a name for a kid he never wanted to see?

"Sakura, you realise that I don't want anything to do with this kid right? I've changed my mind so many times, and I just don't think it's worth it. I'm not made for this job. Why do I have to help name a kid that should be fathered by someone else?" he admitted.

Sakura was shocked again, and was numb for a while. He had changed his mind again?

All of this inconsistency in him was getting to her nerves and she furrowed her brows, disappointed at his fickleness.

"Look, Sasuke, I was only trying to help you be at least SOME part of his life, to at least have a MINOR connection, what is wrong with you? Don't you realise your indecision is driving me nuts?" she whispered furiously.

"Well if I'm driving you crazy, then why the hell are you still here? I know another guy who's more than willing to replace me right now!" he shouted at her. There was a silence between them.

Her heart sank and suddenly she felt guilty as if she had done something wrong. He obviously was harbouring jealousy and hatred towards… him… she didn't even dare to think his name. She couldn't believe that he was even thinking that far. She had always been true to him, and she was never going to change her mind about it, so it irritated her and hurt her deeply.

"Sasuke… I cannot believe you. How can you just … what the hell is wrong with you?" she cried.

Tears forming in the corners of her eyes, she got up and grabbed his from through the bars.

"You listen, you bastard! I don't know what the hell is going through your head right now, but I'll tell you this much; GET OVER YOURSELF! You're thinking too much!" she shouted. He shouted back at her,

"I wouldn't be thinking this much if you would just visit me more often!"

She drew back and slowly sat back down, quite, and shaking.

"Visit more often?" she thought. It was then that she realised how little she had been coming. It had been slowly decreasing as the months went by. Some days she simply couldn't come due to physical issues, and some days she was just too tired.

"It's been different. It's been too different from how it used to be. It's getting in the way. I don't want him. Just give him to someone else. He doesn't need me and I don't want him, okay?" Sasuke continued softly this time.

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier? I could have EASILY come more often." Sakura whispered. Sasuke looked away and refused to speak.

"It's not every day that I put my trust into someone, and it's not every day that I try to love somebody enough to trust that they'd be able to see that on their won without me telling them. Didn't you realise you were coming a lot less? At all, didn't you notice?" he droned, miserably.

This act of his was hard to keep up when all of his real emotions were being beaten and dulled by the circumstances. Perhaps he may even have been happier about a baby if she had just given him the chance to be.

"I… I'm sorry. I hadn't noticed. I … don't know how I can make it up to you." She said, weakly.

"You have the keys to this cell. Unlock it right now." He demanded, but calmly.

She hesitated but then a look from him forced her to comply. She scrambled to find the right key for the barred door between them. She unlocked it, and for the first time opened the door. In previous times she hadn't known which key it was, and fond it more fun to slip through the bars… back when they did 'things' together.

"Come here. I need you here." He demanded again. She closed the door and approached him. She gingerly knelt before him before letting her head and arms fall into his lap crying.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I've been… distracted. I haven't been paying attention to things like that…" she admitted. And just to think that she had spent just the past few weeks sleeping on her couch, ignoring every sign of procrastination that arose. Even her friends who showed concern for her lack of contact with him were brushed aside. Had she been that careless?

"Get up! I'm not bending down, I can't!" he complained. She looked up and smiled sadly, but in amusement at the notion of him trying to bend over.

She sat up on him carefully, feeling awkward still. He bent his head down as much as he could and kissed her just above her breasts, wishing he could feel her belly, and make contact with his child before it was born. Surely others had had that chance by now.

He eyed it painfully, both hating it and loving it.

"I just want you to not forget about me. If you're going to start something with me, then by god you had better finish it too otherwise all of this will have been for nothing. I'm going easy on you because I know you get distracted, and that's a lot coming from me. Don't push it. And don't you ever, EVER forget to visit me again." He concluded.

He looked back up at her and sighed, smiling half-heartedly.

She smiled back and bent down kissing him for the first time in a long time. Had his hands been free he would have crushed her into an embrace, forcing her to stay with him for longer, and longer still. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her belly gently against his, letting her hands fall behind the chair and into his bound hands, holding them tightly.

"I won't forget you again. Just don't start holding grudges on me… " she began.

He rested his forehead on her chest and closed his eyes and they shifted grip with each other's hands, listening for her to continue.

"And, Sasuke, one way or another…" she lifted his chin up to face her, "You WILL have a name for him, you understand?" she insisted again. He rolled his eyes and groaned, but she shut him up with a kiss.

Sakura left late that night.


	12. Final chapter-Sasuke, Sakura, and

Chapter Eleven: New Arrival – Sasuke, Sakura, and…

It all started with a scream.

She had never been through so much pain in her entire life. She woke up in the middle of the night on a Saturday, after having the worst day, and here she was all by herself in a dark room with only the painful sharp contractions accompanying her.

She screamed for someone to come and help. Anybody within the vicinity surely would wake up from her screaming. she felt another one coming and wondered how long she had been having them by now. It must have started while she was asleep.

The searing pain occurred again, returning to her a bit faster than the other one had and she was too afraid to move. She sat herself up as best as she could and screamed again at the top of her voice for someone to come. She couldn't walk around and find a light switch like this let alone take herself to a hospital.

She began to sweat and took a deep breath squeezing the bed sheets as hard as she could as the next contractions began. Finally someone answered her screaming.

Although grateful to see someone coming to her aid, she was… less than impressed with who the two were.

Gai and Kakashi had broken down the door at the same time and ran into the room, meeting the unexpectedly rage filled glare of the woman currently in labour.

"Ah crap." Kakashi muttered, the only words said for the moment. It was going to be a long night.

*_Many hours later*_

Sakura woke up the next day, finding it hard to open her eyes at all. Her hair was still stuck to her forehead, and in the lower part of her body, she felt as if it wasn't even there. The dull ache of childbirth still possessed her, and she groaned quietly, and tried to go back to sleep.

The glaring light from the hospital window was beating down on her eyelids giving her the sight of her own eyelids, glowing red on the inside. She tried to turn her head, but was feeling too weak to. She let her eyes slowly peel open and then stared at the patient bed beside her which was empty. She had help birth children before but never had she imagined that it was this extreme. There hadn't been any complications, thank whoever for that, but it was still intense. She had screamed her throat and voice dry, and she doubted shed be able to talk later today. If Sasuke should somehow impregnate her again, she was going to take a vow of silence for the childbirth. Never again would she exert herself unnecessarily again, or so she promised.

From the window she gazed at the cloudless sky, and sighed heavily before smiling. Her baby had been born.

A knock was heard at the door. A nurse entered shortly afterwards, smiling nervously. Many nurses here at the Konoha hospital were aware of Sakura's physical strength, and all had feared the day she would finally experience the worst physical pain known to female kind.

She had basically switched places with her real-self, as in her inner-self had taken all control over her thoughts and actions in that gruelling night and early morning, and all of the doctors involved were terrified, some leaving with accidents, or injuries of their own.

The equipment of course somehow was miraculously unharmed.

"Hello, Ms. Haruno, are you okay now?" she kindly inquired. Sakura barely managed a grunt that indicated a yes and then smiled weakly.

"When breakfast comes I'll be off work, and another woman will take over for me. I'm just here to do some errands, you can ignore me. Someone will be in with paperwork for you and the baby later." She stated and then went about her business.

Sakura sighed again, and then remembered that she hadn't chosen a name yet for her damned kid… it was already born and she was not going to forgive herself for this.

She snorted as she thought over the list of names available. All of the males in her family had a habit of naming their males with a "H" symbol to start off the name, to match their surname.

Sasuke wanted to name their baby after his psychotic brother. Now that she thought about it, she could vaguely remember something important about Itachi that she had overlooked… She had been reflecting on it before she had gone to sleep that one night that she visited him, and she did recall something traumatic being involved with his brother… All she could recall in full was that apparently Itachi had been wrongly framed or something of the like.

She seriously was considering this.

Then again, Naruto had been given his mother's surname as a form of protection, this was a choice that she was going to be making and that was already set in stone. Sasuke had complied with the suggestion as well…but with a name like Itachi, and everyone already suspecting the kid's heritage, she wondered if that was a good idea…

Her thoughts were momentarily interrupted, as a small bundle of absolutely adorable pink hair was held out to her by a nurse.

Her eyes popped as she gazed into the face of what couldn't possibly be mistaken for anything or anyone aside from her very own son.

There was a long silence before she shakily took the boy into her arms, and a small croaky squeak left her lips as she felt his weight against her for the first time. He opened his eyes, sporting two beautiful green irises. He had his father's face, she could tell even if he was so small. He had been all cleaned up and didn't have too much bruising. He yawned, seemingly bored with her internal euphoria and then closed his eyes again, burying them from view.

The nurse had long left to the other side of the room to wait for her to be ready for the paper work, which had ended up coming before the breakfast.

"So…" she began, trying her luck. "What do you want to name him? Thought up any good names yet?"

Sakura paused a little shocked at the sudden voice, but then her mind was brought back to her current dilemma. Hide, the name of her father who had died after the war, or her boyfriends… deranged brother.

"I…" she began, her voice surprisingly not as hoarse as she felt, "I think I'll name him Itachi." She finally spat out.

She was crazy. She was stupid. She had no idea what she was doing or why, but the look on the nurses face seemed to ask these questions and reflect her very own thoughts.

As staff of the hospital in a ninja village it was customary that they have full details of the father of each kunoichi's child. The staff knew about Sasuke, and had been helping out Sakura with the whole pregnancy too. However this was unexpected… to say it was shocking was an understatement, even if it was somehow Sasuke's choice of name.

"Like the criminal? Or do you just like weasels?" she laughed nervously, and a bit too loud at her own joke. Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Actually it came to me in a dream." She lied, but it was true that she had been thinking heavily about that name.

"I just wanted to give Itachi a new chance to have his mane cleaned. It's kind of like… " She paused trying to put it into the right words.

"I want him to live with a piece of his heritage, and with his own reputation give that name a new meaning so that it's no longer taboo to speak of. It's nothing too major. It's just my decision I guess." She finished.

The nurse looked guilty but nodded.  
"The paperwork will be on the table here, I'll go get the other nurse now that I'm off. Good luck."

_*In another hospital room*_

"Hello! HELLO! Where is my wife! I need to see her, get me to her room right now! I need to see my son! NOW!" Naruto screamed practically at the terrified and confused staff. Unbeknown to Naruto they had already been traumatised with Sakura that night, and he was no help. He had arrived late from a mission to find out that his beloved wife had given birth to their son and he hadn't even been there for it.

People were running around everywhere, trying to keep calm, as they gathered the information for the hokage to be.

Absolutely livid, and cursing the council for forcing him to complete the set amount of missions before he could just get the damned job, he grabbed the first person to bring him the room number and then ran off with him in hand, uttering a string of profanities under his breath.

Sakura apparently had also given birth that night, which he was also anxious about, Sasuke was like a brother to him now and to know that his surrogate-nephew had also been born, he was intending on visiting them next. He turned a sharp corner, having slowed down to a fast paced walk instead of careless running, he made a mental note to leave a clone with her the next time he went on a mission, lest he miss the kid's first word, or steps or something which given his luck probably would happen while he was away.

Finally after pacing in front of the room for a number of minutes that felt like hours, finally he was let in, by the angry but polite doctor, and he bolted to his wife's side.

"Hinata-chan, are you okay? I'm so sorry I missed it…" He held back a few tears, and his voice was so much softer than he was used to. She smiled down at him as he failed to keep a few tears from invading is eyes and she giggled.

"N-naruto-kun, it's okay. It… it wasn't pretty anyway." She admitted, giggling again. That night she had made more inhuman noises and uttered more profanities that she even knew she knew at all to begin with.

He cocked his head at that confused but then shook it off, not totally caring for now. He'd just find out later when their second was born.

He sighed inwardly. Hiashi, his father in law, had been VERY adamant about them having children. It was really pressuring, and the elders of the hyuuga were making a big fuss about it too. How the hell those cranky old geezers were still alive he had no idea, but at least Hiashi seemed to be on their side.

_*earlier last year*_

_"Naruto-an, I have to speak with you for a moment." The Hyuuga man approached the currently resting hokage-to-be. Naruto looked up, and then stood almost at attention when he realised who it was._

_"Y-yessir?" he muttered, still very wary of the previous time he had said that. Naruto had never faced a more deadly and horrifying battle than the one he fought to gain the rights to marry the next in line Hyuuga child, Hinata. He sighed, wishing she had been a branch member or something so that he could just have married her with a quick legal history check and qualification test or something, but NOOO, it was that and more1 He also had to prove that he was in the running for the hokage, and he had to fight the leader, the man before him, and several other gruelling tasks._

_That fight had had limitations and too many rules, and he had nearly been beaten, as the man did not intend to go easy on him, even if he was a war hero and of favourable blood in his opinion._

_Even after he had married her, Naruto was still suffering the repercussions of breaking their tradition. He was forced to don their surname in conjunction with his (legally on paper anyway, not in speaking terms, as he refused to change his name entirely.) and any of their children would be considered a part of a new clan sect of the original Hyuuga, slightly akin to the branch system, but without the curse mark, which was very nearly forced onto them._

_They were not necessarily a new version of the branch, as they were not to be servants to the main, but rather were 'an experiment' as the elders had put it to see if their choice of new blood was worthy of breaking off to become their own clan, and possibly act as a sister clan as Hinata and Hiashi had stressed would be their greatest wish._

_This would mean for the family bloodline that they would be blessed not only with their own abilities, but also would be gifted with the immense physical stamina and ninjustsu talents that the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans had been famous for before their untimely there be any down sides, it might be petty such as the classic Hyuuga look might be lost in the genes somewhere and they may not even possess the trademark white-eyes trait (unless the Byakugan was in use of course) or that their classic stuffy and stiff attituds may be replaced with strong opinions and determination for justice (and oh heaven forbid the Hyuuga brighten up a bit, as Hiashi had surprisingly put it)_

_For Hiashi also, this meant that his daughters would not be split as he and his brother had been, and Hanabi would be free of the curse mark. That was something that he didn't want to happen or have to do to his beloved little girl._

_Luckily however for Naruto, this confrontation was not any bad news, but rather a request._

_"Fear not, son, I'm not here to beat you blind… again…" he held back a snicker at the expression on Naruto's face, "I'm just here to talk." He reassured him._

_Naruto nodded and then sighed with relief. He loosened up a bit and then nodded for him to continue._

_"Now, as you may be aware, the elders have been very intrigued with my daughter's proposals of strengthening the bloodline using your own family abilities and other assets. A discussion, a final discussion anyway, on that matter has been held and we've decided that the earlier you have children, the earlier we will be able to determine the truth in these theories." He sighed, but not so much in a bad mood._

_"You know I don't want to tell you to do this right, Naruto?" he softly addressed him. Such casual and informal speech surprised the young man, but he shook it away for a moment to contemplate the meaning behind this._

_He took a while and then nodded. He wasn't wanting to rush into having a family just yet, and actually wanted to enjoy his wife while they were young, but if this was to keep the peace between the elders and himself, then by all means he would just do it._

_"Yeah I get it, just go and tell those old cranks I'll have her pregnant before they can change their minds." He blurted under his breath, less than pleased, and not even considering what he had just said to his father in law…._

_Anyway… the outcome of that small altercation was amazingly brief and injury free. Fortunately._

*Back in present time*

"So, It was a boy right?" he eagerly asked, staring almost straight into her soul, bouncing with excitement. His wife nodded and grinned, knowing full well that he had been wanting a son.

"YES!" He shouted and leapt up, dancing on the spot like a little kid.

He stayed and spoke with her for another long hour before he was finally asked to calm down and fill out the paper work.

In the far other room, sakura was just finishing up her own paperwork.

Kakashi had showed up first thing as he had stayed with her for the birth. He was chosen to be the child's godfather and had some things to discuss with her and fill out later one as well.

He was mainly here though to see the boy, and take a good look at his future pupil… maybe.

It wasn't odd for an ex-teacher or jounin instructor to branch off and mentor a single pupil after leaving his or her three man team once the Chuunin and Jounin stages has passed, and they no longer were needed. Jiraiya, the sannin had been a good example of that.

He held the little pink fuzz ball and eye-smiled when he began babbling and blowing bubbles with his own spit.

"Oh you little thing, I'm going to have so many things to black mail you with when you get older, hehehe" he chuckled. Sakura frowned at that comment and poked him hard on the ribs.

"Oh come on, Mommy, I was just kidding! And besides, you'll be joining with the blackmail too… if it works as well as it looks like It does then we've got to try it if he gets out of hand, right?" He pleaded his case to her. She rolled her eyes, fighting back a giggle of agreement. Her own parents had used the blackmail method too.

"Don't call me 'Mommy'. I'm not ready for that yet." She added, a bit more serious. She wasn't too happy with her new title. Not unhappy actually, but rather she was amazed that she actually was a mother now.

A loud knock interrupted their conversation, and before either of them could answer, Naruto opened the door and bolted to her side, bouncing once again with glee.

Kakashi and Sakura just stared at him, taking in the odd sight before they both exchanged confused glances and then shrugged.

"So, you came to see him too huh?" She began. Thank goodness her voice wasn't as hoarse as she felt, she thought again for the millionth time. He nodded and then, hesitating, Kakashi decided to uncover him a little bit instead of letting him hold her infant.

There was total silence. Naruto stared, grinning at the baby, his face unreadable for the most part. Sakura held her breath unconsciously awaiting his response. Kakashi was worried Naruto was going to faint or something from the lack of movement.

Naruto felt the entire world disappear as he stared at the kid. His eyes more than immediately locked on the bright pink head of hair that stood out like anything.

It was this that he was staring at for so long. He didn't quite register that information the first few hundred times as he played it over in his head…

"Sasuke's kid has pink hair… Sasuke's kid has pink hair… Sasuke's SON has pink hair…"

There was one more aching second of silence before..

"Uh… Naru-" sakura was cut off, by a violent outburst of laughter. Naruto's smile somehow contorted even bigger and his face twisted as he hysterically fell to the floor with profound difficulty moving of his own accord. Gripping his sides he laughed even louder when he saw the less than impressed looks being offered to him by the odd couple of friends that sat above him.

He slowed his laughing and it faded into a giggle that still had him immobilised on the ground, as he took in a deep shaky breath before clambering up again.

"oh my god, the poor kid's gonna die from teasing with a head of pink like that!" he sniggered out.

Kakashi and sakura equally glared at him in that moment. Kakashi stopped Sakura from punching him, not wanting her to over exert herself again.

"No, no you need rest. Take the kid, I'll kill him for you." He stated bluntly. She took the kid with a smug smile on her face, as Kakashi preformed his first job of protecting Itachi by pummelling the not-so-great-hokage to be straight in the guts.

He flew back and landed on a doctor who was entering the room. The puzzled look on his face was replaced with irritation. Ninjas were such a pain in the ass.

"ugh… is Naruto sama finished with his visit I'm assuming?" He muttered. Kakashi and sakura smiled with utmost innocence and replied in unison,

"yes doctor!"

The doctor picked up the young man and with some help had the knocked out ninja escorted to the door.

"Well this is going to be one interesting few years, of the rest of our lives. Isn't it Sakura?" Kakashi sighed finally left in peace and quiet.

Sakura nodded. "it sure is."

*A few months later*

Finally, all was cleared up and Sakura was allowed to take her little boy home with her after a long and irritating legal struggle. But before she did that she had a few stops to make first.

There at the door of the Hokage residence, the front part for once, she knocked on the door, donning a baby carrying sling and her hair tied back in a high ponytail.

Hinata opened the door and was thrilled to see her. Hinata had been let out of the hospital a day earlier with her child than Sakura had been, but had been allowed to take her boy home the very next day. She was so excited to finally see the little new uchiha.

"Oh my goodness! I can't believe how adorable he is!" she gushed over him, poking his little nose. He giggled and grabbed her finger, squeezing it tightly. It was then that she noticed something.

"hey… Naruto said that he had pink hair." She currently had had about enough of Naruto's incessant bragging about how 'girly Sasuke's son looked' and how he never stopped going on about his supposedly 'bright pink hair'.

Sakura grunted at the reminder and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, his hair all fell out over the past few months. It's been growing back as black ever since." She explained.

"Oh!" Hinata giggled and then let her in. In the living room, their son who's name they had crafted cleverly months and months before he was born, was hitting his rattle against a giant teddy bear, with the Konoha symbol stitched into its belly.

He looked up to see his mommy approaching with another lady whom he had never seen before. He spied the little face of another baby and he squealed loudly, bouncing around at the sight of another baby.

"Shhh, Nejiraiya!" Hinata shushed him for what felt like the millionth time. "He does nothing but squeal and scream. He hasn't even cried this loud yet…" she muttered.

Sakura snickered a little bit in shock…

"I-I'm sorry, what was his name?" she requested clarification.

Hinata blushed and shrugged.

"We thought about choosing a regular name but that was too boring, according to Naruto, so we decided to name him after someone who was important to us, but there were too many people to really choose from. We ended up narrowing it down to two people who meant the most. I lost Neji, and Naruto lost Jiraiya long ago, and we were debating to use one of those names, but since it would be too awkward either way, we decided to combine the names." She explained. She was actually secretly overjoyed with their creation, treating it as if it was just yet another one of their genius solutions to everything.

Sakura grinned and chuckled in good humour and bent down to look at the little boy. He had dark indigo hair much akin to his mothers, but was unmistakably spiky. His eyes were that deep blue that only Naruto seemed to have, and he had two whiskers on each cheek, although nothing could explain the scars aside from it being some apparent side effect of having the nine-tails-jinchuuriki for a parent.

"Oh he looks so cute! He even has a little Minato hair thing going on…" Sakura took note. It was crazy how fast the two boys were growing even after such a short time.

Itachi curiously reached out to touch the strange boys hair, and the other boy recoiled in confusion but then smiled, open mouthed and grabbed his hand sticking it straight into his mouth.

Itachi screamed in shock, and tried to pull away, crying loudly at the foreign feeling of another person's mouth on his hand. Sakura pulled him away and then dried off his hand shushing him and bouncing him lightly to soothe him.

Hinata just sighed and stared at her now confused looking baby. Nejiraiya eventually had enough with the confusion and just went back to assaulting his teddy bear with his rattle, ignoring the other baby crying.

Sakura left the room, well aware of the layout of the house. She grabbed a ring of keys off the key holder and then began to walk down the stairs through the back-most door.

"hey wait… aren't you not allowed to bring him down there?" Hinata called.

It had unfortunately been decided not only by the council of Konoha, but Sasuke himself that he was to stay out of his son's life in an effort to spare him the gruesome details of his true family history… until a later date at least, and for the sake of avoiding confusion and rebellion in the village and ninja world, the truth about the uchiha was to be dropped and remain a secret forever. Only very important and qualified people in the military knew about the truth.

It was being treated as serious as when Naruto had become the nine-tails and the offense against keeping hush on the Uchiha history was just as severe. There would be a prison penalty, and if that information was given to an outer village or used in some heinous way they could even face death.

But for sakura, today, she would ignore that rule.

"Oh screw them all. I want to take him down there just for today, and no one can stop me. It's not like Sasuke can just switch on his sharingan and then hypnotise him subliminally to be a serial killer when he grows up! Honestly, it's no big deal." She complained, but not in too harsh of a tone.

Hinata sighed and in her heart she agreed.

Sakura closed the door behind her and made her way to the cell.

She took a deep breath and shivered as she exhaled. Sasuke was still in his sleeping quarters-cell. She had been to this cell once or twice before, and was grateful for it today.

She opened her eyes and composed herself before she finally entered the dark, dimly lit room and made her way to the bars.

Sasuke had sensed her presence. He was shivering from the inside out with anticipation and longing. He had been awaiting her arrival back for months now since he had been informed of the birth of his son and he was dying on the inside from the wait. She had only visited a few times, and it was always fleeting and t talk business. She hadn't once even mentioned the baby in a personal way, and he didn't even know his name. All he knew was that he had fathered a son, and that apparently he had pink hair… something he dreaded and was glad that he wouldn't have to face the poor kid and answer for his crimes, both literally and genetically.

He sensed another presence in the room as the bars creaked open. She couldn't have… could she?

"Sakura…" he whispered breathlessly.

She didn't answer him, but instead, she picked up her baby boy and placed him on the chest of his father. He situated himself to be more comfortable on the strange man's chest and then for some unknown reason froze as he stared up into the face of his father.

Sasuke stared back just as frozen.

He wasn't blind yet, as Itachi's eyes had been some help to him years ago when he had them implanted into his own. He also had been provided with an actual window in this room, and the light from its tiny square perimeter illuminated the small frozen form on his chest.

The small form of his son. His first child, and the one to grow up to be everything he wasn't. this was the little insignificant baby that would one day take over his clan and rebuild it with dignity and true pride… all promises he made to Konoha instantly vanished from his mind.

They and the world could stop him from seeing the child…

But no one could stop him from being his father.

And loving him…

"S-sakura…" his chest became tight and he struggled to get the words out.

He was bound but not too tightly. Naruto had tied him up this time, and was known to make the ropes loose on purpose, so he shifted weakly to sit up a little bit.

On his elbows he bent his head down and kept his eyes locked on the precious sight of his baby as he slid down his chest slightly, still dumbfounded.

This strange man was kinda scary looking. He had big spiky long black hair, and darker black eyes with rings around the bottoms. He was pale and thin, and his chin covered in a short goatee and a bit of hair forming on his upper lip as well. He looked what the little boy would later in life describe as the human version of the devil, but despite his demonic appearance, the sudden teary smile that graced this man's face and the look of love in his eyes told little Itachi that this man was safe.

He made movement finally and smiled back at him, reaching out with his hand to touch his beard. He clung onto it and then, pulled himself up to stand.

Sasuke cringed as his chin stung from the weight but he was too happy to care. Sakura was beside herself in tears watching this precious moment happen.

The baby let go of his beard and then placed both hands on either cheek and looked at him, more confidently now with those bright green eyes.

Sasuke then suddenly made note… his hair wasn't pink at all.

He laughed... he actually laughed at that. It was a loud laugh and startled the other two in the room, but they didn't mind.

"So much for a pink haired Sasuke…" he managed to chuckle out finally. Sakura laughed now, and Itachi just gave up and began giggling, babbling a little before resigning to sitting as he hadn't quite mastered standing yet, and was bound to fall down soon anyway. Sasuke's cheeks ached from the baby's hands grabbing into them.

He was in that moment, finally at peace with his struggle. All these years he had been with sakura, things had changed so much.

At first he was playing on old feelings of his in an attempt toescape, then he actually began to fall in love with her again, and wanted to be freed to be with her.

Then aftet that he just wanted to stay down in this dungeon home of his because it provided him with some sort of security that she would never leave him, as long as he stayed in one place.

Then he began to panic that she might not be true to him as long as he wasn't around to make sure of it, but was then humbled again and learned to appreciate the precious time they got to spend with each other.

Then he simply grew bored with the prison life and just wanted to be free at all… even if just to roam around to hokage residence… even if he was monitored by a hundred ANBU or something, just to ensure his permission to be out.

Then he just gave up, and it was at this point that he had decided that he didn't want to invade his son's future, and made the ultimate sacrifice just as his brother had, which was to give up who he was sure to love the most, in an attempt to save him.

And now, all of that confusion melted away and was replaced with a final decision. A final feeling. A final point of stability in his life.

He was to stay down here and continue to stay true to his sacrifice. But now that sacrifice was made so much easier, and so much more worth it. Staring into the eyes of his own child, he felt that now everything that ever happened to him, didn't even matter anymore. He didn't matter anymore.

This new uchiha would fix up everything, purely just by being alive. Though he hated them still… in the miraculously capable hands of Naruto, and Sakura… this village of Konoha would make sure of it.

Finally, Sakura picked up the baby and sat down on the chair she had pulled up all the way to the bed. Sasuke looked almost heartbroken to have his son taken from him so soon.

He glanced at the baby once more and then at sakura. It was then that it occurred to him.

He still didn't even have a name to place with this angelic child.

"Wait… what did you end up naming him…?" He asked, a bit of his depressing monotone returning.

Sakura paused and her heart leapt. She then recovered and grinned devilishly.

"Oh nothing too special." She stated casually.

"Oh?" he prompted, getting a nervous feeling.

There was a silence and Sasuke was fidgeting. What could she have possibly name their son? Why was she taking so long?

Finally after what felt like a year, she giggled and then hoisted the baby higher up on her chest and whispered,

"Itachi."

**AND HERE IT IS! The last chapter of Part one!**

**And not only is this chapter all warm and butterflies but ALSO! It has sneak peeks into the next part of the story!**

**well... The side story anyway. after a while I came to realise that I had not actually explained any of my side stories at all whatsoever and so my next project is to make side stories based in and around The New Uchihas time frame.**

**the first one of these will be a NaruHina one.**

**so anyway, thi isn't the end! By god it's just the beginning! Part two is coming soon nd will be a new story under a similar name. Look out for it and thank you for reading!**

**REVIEEEEEEEEEEEE!**


End file.
